Made By Magic
by Miss Mel Lives
Summary: I have no claim to it, It was never mine to begin with. I paused. Looking at my mothers pathetic, tear streaked face trying not to cry myself. I knew what I had to do. I sucked in a deep breath and reached for the blade.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I do not own VA or Twilight or any other book/TVshows/movies that I may or may not have referenced in this piece. **

**Chapter 1. -Training, moving and early Birthday gifts.**

The morning sunlight unexpectedly rushed into my bedroom. I groaned, covering my head with my blanket.

"Now!"

Her voice was stern. She peeled the quilt back from me exposing my scantily clad body. I rolled, stuffing my head under the pillow. "Come on mum, my alarm hasn't even gone off yet." My voice was muffled.

Her cold hand clenched around one of my ankles, reefing my whole body a couple inches down, just enough so that my head was out from under the pillow.

I groaned again.

"Dominica Janine Belikov get your butt out of bed right now! We have to get started."

I opened my eyes. She was standing over me shaking her head at me.

I rolled back over and my feet landed on the floor. She was already on her way out the door, her long dark brown hair swinging side to side as she walked.

"Don't bother with a shower. We're running today."

Ugh! My most hated of training sessions. Running. I rummaged through one of a number of unpacked boxes that scattered my floor for my training gear. I finally found it at the bottom of a box labelled 'misc'.

"Hurry up Demi!" my mother called from downstairs.

I reached the bottom of the stairs to be met by my mother with a map.

"We have to plot the new route and do a warm up and we only have two and a half hours before your due at school."

I made a face as I set my foot up on the third step and stretched my hamstrings.

"Hey," I asked, moving onto the next set of stretches, "what's with all the running, anyway? I mean, I realize the importance of stamina and all that, but shouldn't I be moving on to something with a little more hitting or stabbing?" I arched an eyebrow curiously, "Your kicking my butt at sparing."

"Maybe you should hit harder or stop holding back," she replied dryly. She had already drawn a thin black line along the path she wanted us to run.

"Nice, mum." Hit harder. Yeah, that'll work. She had 34 years on me with regards to training and her advise is to hit harder. Nice mentoring mother.

We hit the streets. Even with the morning sun streaming through the thin sprinkling of clouds, it was still cold. Our breaths visible in the air.

We had been here less then a week. Port Angeles in the Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington State. This sleepy seaside village existed under a near-constant cover of clouds. It rains here more then any other place in the United States.

But today we were lucky. Or at least my mother thought so. Though, I think that even if it had been raining we would still be pounding the pavement. Ugh!

The only upside - if it was even an upside - to running was it gave you plenty of time to think. We generally kept silent during these times. Not as a rule. It just helped you run better when you didn't have hold a conversation. It let me think.

I was turning sixteen in two days time and I had finally convinced my mother to let me go back to normal school. She had been home schooling me since I was ten. Ever since the first attack. I grimaced. Flexing my left arm. The skin there permanently tight from the healed burn marks that snaked from my hand halfway up my forearm.

Always conscious of the burns, in public, I always worn fingerless gloves. Though stylish - at least I thought so - they were more practical then anything. They protected the sensitive skin from the sunlight.

I tried not to think of that night almost six years ago but my mind perpetually fell into the memory.

It was before I knew anything. Anything about the world my mother left. The one of vampires.

Well Moroi and Dhampir and Strigoi. She had raised me single handed on her own. Away from that world and its influences. She was a young mother too, having me when she was only 18. She was a Dhampir - half human, half Moroi - though she never did graduate from her special training academy which was designed to train the Dhampir to become Guardians.

Guardians protect the Moroi .They were super strong, had heighten senses and trained from, like birth apparently, to protect the Moroi from the Strigoi. The evil vampires. The dead ones.

I had no idea of anything to do with any of it. My mother had raised me amongst the humans. Mostly to stay under the radar. I went to school, I did gymnastics and had a stack of friends. She, too, costed through with a job as a ju-jitsu and kick boxing teacher.

But all that changed on the night of the attack. It was a normal night. Nothing out of the ordinary. I had gymnastic practice. Which at the time I had four nights a week and a half day on Sundays after church. I was friends with most of the other girls on the squad. We had all been doing gym since we were littles doing tykes tumbling together.

Our coach, Ms Renalia was Polish and had big dreams for all of us. Hoping that we'd all might turn into something good enough to someday go the Olympics or something crazy like that. She always rode us pretty hard, especially for us being so young.

That night I had been practicing my floor routine for an up coming event. She had watched the others go through the motions for most of the night and when it was nearly home time she came over to scrutinise me. She made me go through my entire routine from start to finish. It only took 8 minutes but then she made me go through it again this time stopping every few seconds to tell me exactly what I had done wrong.

This went on for about half an hour, my mother was sitting in the bleaches where all the parents sat glaring at Ms Renalia. Most of the other girls had gone into the locker room to shower and change and she was obviously getting pissy about me being kept back.

Eventually she had told me enough and to hit the showers. I walked down the empty corridor not realising that none of the other girls had come out yet. I pushed through the swinging door to the lockers. Steam had filled the room making it hard to see much, but this was usual after practice.

What wasn't usual was the silence. It was so quiet that all I could hear was the water running from the showers at the back of the room. Typically the locker area was filled with squealing, yelling and sometimes fighting. But nothing.

I wondered down the isle created by the lockers towards the showers at the back. I had thought that maybe they were playing some kinda joke on me. Like hoping to scare me.

What I saw, when I got to the end of that first row, would stay with me for life. The tiles of the showers were splattered with blood. Crimson specks up the walls, water running pink and seven little bodies slumped, some still dressed in their leotards others semi naked from showering, in unnatural positions on the shower floor. Water running around them.

And two others. Their skin was white, chalky in a way that made it look like the result of a bad makeup job. The pupils of their eyes had a red ring around them, driving home that they weren't normal. Their postures were slumped over a body each. Blood dripping from their mouths. Hands each clenching a tiny body of one of my class mates.

The woman was short and had brown hair with a bad highlight job. Her clothes that probably had been white before were covered with thick oozing blood that was quickly congealing around her.

The mans expression had been cold and calculating, laced with malicious amusement. He was tall and thin with shoulder length black hair that framed his face. It was wet from the running shower that he'd crouched under.

I had gasped in a lung full of air at the sight. Terror had ripped through me in the exact second his red eyes met my own. I had staggered backwards pressing up against the side of the lockers. He rose in a slow motion his eyes never leaving me. I couldn't even squeak out a sound. He spoke with a menacing tone, "Look Abigail," flicking his eyes to the woman, blood and water dripping from his clothes and face, "dessert."

Suddenly, Ms Renalia burst through the doors. She spoke with her slight accent, "Hurry up girls! Your parents are waiting…" her voice faded as she soon saw the same scene that I had. She muttered something in what I thought was Polish.

The man didn't even hesitate as he launched himself at her. The woman looked up at that, her eyes flashing to me.

I had turned to try to escape. She was by my side in the blink of an eye. She breathed deeply as if to take in my scent. A curious, almost puzzled look burst across her face, "You're not a human."

I fled. I turned around and ran as fast as I could down the third isle of lockers. She had followed, slamming me face first into the lockers.

She spun me around to look me in the eyes. My heart was beating so fast. Adrenalin causing through my veins. I was beyond scared.

The woman was so close, pressing herself against me. I put my hands up to try to push her away. My vision tinged slightly to a red colour. It was then I felt the burning feeling. It started in my finger tips but soon spread to my hands and up my arms.

She screamed as flames leapt from my finger tips. Catching her alight. She pulled away from me, staggering still screaming away from me. I couldn't look away as she burned. Her hands curling into fists and her milky white skin turning a brown charcoal colour. Her screaming died away to a gurgling sound as she slipped onto the wet ground.

The man, who was hidden behind the other lockers, bobbed up at the sound of his partners screams. His eyes wide with shock. He launched himself to the tops of the lockers. Peering down at the unmoving, flame engulfed remains of the woman.

An enraged snarl resonated from him. He leaped again, landing inches from me. I held my hands up for protection. Tears sliding down my face. Again, flames rippled from my fingertips, shooting across the space between me and him. He flinched back waving his arms trying to deflect the blaze. But he too caught alight. He staggered forward seizing my left hand.

The burning had all but left my arms and hands. But he was still alight and his burning flesh grasped around my wrist setting the long sleave of my leotard a light.

It was then that my mother had come. She reefed his hands from mine. Sending him sprawling backwards to the opposite wall.

I hadn't know I was screaming until her hand clamped over my mouth, silencing me. She smothered the flames on me with her jacket. Tears still falling from my eyes as I slid to the floor. She had turned around to examine both of the flaming piles.

I don't know what happened next but she had somehow gotten hold of some flammable liquid, probably from the utility closet next to the lockers. She was squirting it everywhere. Up the walls, over the benches, on top of the flaming bodies and towards the seven little bodies slumped in the showers. As soon as the liquid touched the fire it blazed a bright white. Trailing up and back where my mother had sprayed it.

It took less then two minutes for the whole room to catch alight. Smoke mixing in with the steam choking all the air out of the room. My mother had scooped me up and we were out of there.

"What are you thinking?" My mothers voice interrupted my memory. She was panting just as hard as I was.

"Nothing, just school."

"Well hurry up, your slowing down and we need to set a new time for this course."

I picked up my pace and she followed suit. My muscles screaming all sorts of obscenities at me. I knew we were nearly done when she led us around the corner of our street. She stopped at the front of our house, jogging on the spot as apart of her warm down exercises. Her hand reaching out to stop the watch she was timing with.

"I'm glad you know which one is ours," I said as I started my warm down, "they all look the same to me." I made a face.

I didn't like it here. But she did. She said she liked the quietness of it all. I preferred it when we stayed in New York for six months when I was 13. But of corse I'd screwed it up again. Throwing a tantrum that consisted of a whole lot of wind, a whole lot of rain, a whole lot of lightening, a whole bunch of earth shaking and unfortunately a whole bunch of witnesses.

Probably why we'd stuck to small towns ever since. Maybe she was scared that I cause another scene like that one but I hadn't. I mean you only find out about menstruation, for the first time, once and after that your practically a pro.

"Ten miles in thirty-eight minutes and twenty-three seconds." She puffed proudly. "That's pretty good. Now you just have to break it."

"Sure mum and leave you behind in the dust somewhere?" I joked.

"If I'm holding you back at all, you can always run on your own." She said with all seriousness.

"Nah, I like the competition. And if you didn't run with me, I'd probably slack off."

We finished off the warm down with more stretches.

"Okey, its seven now. I want you to do half an hour of weights then hit the showers and get ready for school."

Excitement hit my face as soon as she said that. School. Yes! The only bad thing about me being back in a public school was the fact that mum had to drive me to and from school every day. That would really grow thin and soon. As it was I'd be the freaky burns girl who was home schooled for six years.

"I've got something to show you when your through, too. So don't dawdle."

"Okey, mum."

I was so glad to have a shower after my weight session. I practically just stood there letting the steaming hot water run down my back. I could have almost fallen asleep right in the shower if it hadn't been for the fact that my mother had just about bashed down the bathroom door yelling at me to get out.

I pulled on some clean jeans from another unpacked box and burgundy long sleave v-neck. I put my black fingerless gloves on as well. They were made of fine, see-through black lace with thick trims around the fingers and elbow. They didn't cover up the burns completely but you couldn't see them completely either.

I grabbed my bag, a cute little dirt encrusted side satchel, and my shoes and headed downstairs. I sat on the bottom step to put my shoes on. My mother walked past me. She was already ready. Perfectly presented with her long hair tied into a low bun and the base of her neck. She always wore her hair like that. It was so pretty and long and I swear if she would wear it up she'd hook a man in no time. But she didn't. Ever.

She handed me a folder filled with blank paper and a thick leather bound book half its size.

"What's this for?" I asked puzzled.

She rolled her eyes, "What do you think it's for? To write on. Now come here I want to give you something."

I followed her to the dining room. On the table sat three different sized wrapped presents. I groaned. My birthday wasn't for two days so I know what this meant. It meant she wasn't going to be here for it.

"Do you have to go?" I asked trying not to sound whinny but without luck.

"Yes, now open them. The big one first." She replied shoving the largest one into my hands. It was soft, so probably clothes. Which I didn't mind. I love clothes. I pealed the glittery pink paper off and pulled out my present.

Whoa! It was a knee length suede coat. It was tan, complete with fake fur trimming around the edges of the collar and sleeves. Oh my gosh. I loved it. I held it up to me taking in its leathery smell. She knew I'd love it. She had this crooked kind of smile on her face reaching all the way to her eyes. I hugged her still holding the coat in my hands.

"If you think that's cool, wait till you see what else I've got you." She said teasingly.

She took the jacket from me slinging it over the back of the nearest dining chair and handed me the next present. The medium one.

It was extremely heavy for its size. Just a little bit bigger then a box of Kleenex but weighed a couple pounds. I tore the paper off this one much quicker then I had with the coat. Tossing it on the floor at my feet. It was a box. I held the top as the bottom slowly slid off with a soft thunk onto the dining table.

There were two identical silvery objects in the box. I pulled one out to examine it further. I looked at my mother who was watching me intensely. It almost looked like a stake. Almost. It was about the same size as one, just a little bit longer then my forearm. But instead of having the thick rounded body that narrowed into a point like a stake, it had three thin points. The two on the outside shorter then the middle one. It kinda looked like a trident or devils pitchfork that was small enough to wield with your hand. Or both hands because there were two.

There were little symbols carved into the hilt. I ran my fingers over them. "What…" I started.

"They are rune symbols for the five elements. Earth. Air. Fire. Water. Spirit. They called Stylus'. Mostly for offensive combat but a little bit of defensive, too. They were blessed just the same as a stake is. But with the exception of the spirit element, it's a very rare element. Hardly anyone left to wield it. But very powerful." A little worry passed across her face. "When I get back, I'll be teaching you how to use them."

She paused, watching me fit my fingers around the points, two on either side of the middle point.

"Properly."

She took these from me too, putting them back into the box and replacing the lid. She glanced up to the wall clock. It was Eight. I had to be a school by eight-forty and it was a half an hour drive.

"Okey, okey last one." She handed me the smallest of the three. The box fitted into the palm of my hand. Maybe jewellery? She knew I didn't really like jewellery. She had practically forced me to wear the Nazar eye thingy that was her mothers and only because she said it would protect me or something weird like that. I just didn't want to hurt her feelings because her father had given it to her mother who had given it to her. Like an heirloom.

A funny look crossed her face. "Its not jewellery."

I frowned back at her. How did she always do that. Guess what I was thinking. I hate it.

"Just open it. Your going to be late for school." She rolled her eyes.

So I did. It wasn't Jewellery. It was a key and key ring. I held it up out of the box. The key was nothing special a big black top with a silver shaft. Just like most keys. They key ring was round. Shaped like a lady bug with red enamel highlighting certain spots. I didn't get it. I already had house keys.

She rolled her eyes again, "Oh my god!!" she gasped obviously at my incomprehension, "Its in the driveway."

"What?" Then it dawned on me.

She got me a car.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I do not own VA or Twilight or any other book/TVshows/movies that I may or may not have referenced in this piece. **

**Chapter 2. Classes**

I couldn't believe it.

She got me a car. She so knew me. It was uncanny.

I turned to race out of the door to the front driveway. She must have had it delivered while I was doing my weight training or when I was in the shower. I didn't care. All I knew was that there was a red VW Beetle sitting in the driveway and I had the keys to it.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." I kept repeating it over and over again.

"Now, its not brand new, but it is less then 2 years old." She warned me.

I didn't care how old it was. It was mine. My own car!!

I practically leapt into her arms, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Anyone would think you were a broken record or something."

She hugged me back. I was still shocked.

She got me a car!!

"Oh my god! I love it! Thank you! God, I love you mum!"

"Okey get in. Your gonna be late for school. I'll get you things."

I sat in the front seat and just looked around. I touched the rear view mirror, adjusting it to suit me. I fiddled with the stereo, pulling out my IPod to plug into the USB. I put the key in to start the engine to listen to the music. There was a rap at the window. It was mum. I got back out of the car.

"Its not going to get much warmer then this for a while," she said as she handed me my new jacket. "I've packed you a lunch, but you don't have to eat it if you don't want to. The house is fully stocked, and I've done up your training schedule for you. So no slacking and anyway," she stopped, "I wont be gone that long."

"How long." I asked knowing that the last time she went away it was for a full week. I knew it wouldn't be longer then that.

"Two weeks." She answered, quickly adding, "That's it."

"Oh, and I've added another number to the list so that if you get into any trouble just call it and tell them who you are and they will help you out. Okey?"

I frowned when she said 'trouble'.

"I'll be okey mum, don't worry, " I paused. "Are you going to tell me where your going this time?"

"Nope. Now get going your going to be late." She hugged me again and tucked some loose strands of hair behind my ear.

I got back in my car - My car, it still felt weird saying that - and put it in gear. Reversing out of the driveway. Mum waved goodbye to me. I wound the window down with the push of a button, "See you later mum, good luck and I love you."

She smiled back at me but she looked sad.

I thought about mum the whole way there. She had never left me along for this long before. Though, I had noticed that the frequency in which she did leave had increased over the last 18 months. It was sporadic at first, only a day here or a weekend there ever since I was young. Usually she just left me with a neighbour or someone that she had befriended through her work. But now I was older she had begun to leave me alone, sighting that I needed to learn responsibility.

The weird thing was that whenever I asked her where she was going, she'd go all funny and quiet, saying that it was for work. Though, that explanation never really made sense to me. She taught Ju-jitsu and kickboxing. What kind of conference would take her away for a few days but left the rest of her co workers behind. I never pushed it though, if she wanted me to know, she would tell me.

Sometimes I speculated that she was secretly going back to visit the people she left behind in her previous life. The one before me. But if that was what she was doing then why didn't she take me too. I belonged there just as much as she did. Especially since I could do all those cool things with the elements and how she was training me in the same stuff she was doing before she left, to be a Guardian. It couldn't be right, though. I knew she missed certain people.

She had spoken about a few of them, never giving me much more then their first names, that she had grown up with and a few family members. Her mother Janine, who I was named after, a girl named Lissa, that she said was practically her sister, my father, though it hurt her to talk about him, and a few others names that popped up here and there Mason, Mia, Eddie, Christian and Adrian. It hurt her to talk about any of them, really hurt her.

Mostly I just left it alone, listening only when she brought it up herself. Never asking questions about the people she used to know or about the things she used to do. Though she had explained a lot about Moroi, Dhampir and Strigoi and about procedures and customs she just never talked about her role in it all. It frustrated me sometimes. But like I said, I mostly just left it alone. I sighed. I loved my mother but, god, she was stubborn sometimes.

I didn't take me as long as I thought it would to get to my new school. Roughly twenty minutes. The school itself was, like pretty much everything else in the area, just off the highway. Not that it was obvious that it was a school; only the sign, which declared it to be Port Angeles High School, made me stop. It looked like a collection of mismatched houses, built with maroon coloured bricks. There were so many trees and shrubs that I couldn't really gage the size of it at first.

Where was the feel of the institution? I wondered nostalgically. Where were the chain-linked fences, the metal detectors? I hadn't been to a proper school in six years but I did remember what it was like when I did and I also had seen enough TV shows depicting the worst of American High Schools.

I parked in front of the first building, which had a small sign over the door reading FRONT OFFICE. No one else was parked there, so I was sure it was just for visitors. But I decided that instead of wasting time circling around trying to find the students car park and becoming more late then I already was I just parked.

The clear morning had become overcast on the drive to school. Thick, ominous clouds hung low, signalling that it would start raining any time soon. I unwilling stepped outside of my warm car, shrugging into my new jacket and locked the door behind me. I followed a little stone path up to the front doors of the office and stepped inside.

The interior was more brightly lit then I thought it would be and warmer, too. Not that that bothered me too much. Hot and cold were relative. The office was small; a little waiting room with padded folding chairs, green flecked industrial carpet, notices and awards cluttering the walls and a big clock ticking away loudly. The room was cut in half by a large counter untidy with wire baskets filled with paper and brightly coloured flyers taped to the front. There were a couple of desks behind the counter, one of which was maned by a large, orange haired woman wearing glasses around her neck. She was dressed pretty casually for a receptionist I though, quickly suppressing a frown.

She looked up as I approached. "Can I help you?"

"Hi, I'm Dominica Belikov, the transfer student," I informed her. I saw the immediate awareness light up her eyes. She knew I was coming.

"Of course, dear," she said as she dug through a precariously stacked pile of documents on her desk till she found the ones she was looking for. "What a, eh, unique name you have, dear." She said as she handed me the stack of papers.

"Um, thanks, its Russian,"

She frowned, "That's your schedule and a map of the school," pointing to several different pages. She went through my classes for me, highlighting the best route to each of them on the map, and gave me a slip to have each teacher sign , which I was to bring back at the end of the day.

She smiled at me as I turned to exit the office. "Oh, and by the way tomorrow you will have to park in the student car park down by the gym. Leave your car where it is for today. But just remember for tomorrow." I nodded and she waved me out.

I went and stood next to my car, leaning up against it lightly. I looked at the map, trying to memorise it now; so hopefully I wouldn't have to walk around the whole day with it stuck in front of my nose. I stuffed everything into my bag, including the lunch that my mother had made me.

English was first, in building three, behind the cafeteria. It was pretty obvious as I approached, there was a large '3' painted in black on a white background in the east corner. This place was so small that I'd probably have it memorised by the end of the day. I walked behind a group of others who were chatting loudly, joking and laughing as the went. I followed them through the door.

The classroom was small. The people who entered first now stopped just inside the door to hang up their coats on a long row of hooks. I copied them, though not really wanting to put my brand new coat anywhere out of my sight. My books weighed my bag down heavily; it hit my knees where it hung and I was glad that I could sit down soon. I might have to walk around carrying my folder with me all day.

I took the slip to the teacher, a tall, balding man whose desk had a nameplate identifying him as Mr. Jefferson. He gawked at me when he saw my name. I repressed a sigh. I knew straight away that he couldn't say it.

"Dom-min-ekk-a Bel-li-kov." I said phonetically for him holding out my hand to shake his. He wave me off with a glare.

"There's an empty seat in the back row," he grumbled.

Not an encouraging response. But my mother had taught me to be polite, even to those I thought it would be wasted on.

"Thank you Mr. Jefferson." I replied heading down the middle row to a seat at the back of the class. Least he didn't get me to stand in front of the class and introduce myself. Though some of the ones at the front must have heard our exchange.

It was harder for my new class mates to stare at me in the back, but somehow, they managed. I was curious about them, too. But I really didn't want to bring so much attention to myself. So I kept my eyes down on the reading list that the teacher had given me. It was fairly basic; Brontë, Shakespeare, Faulkner, Scott. I'd already read most of the list. Some, several times over. That was comforting… and boring. I kept rereading the list as the teacher droned on hoping that it would distract me.

In the end I took out the beautiful leather bound book, that my mother had given me this morning, examining the patterns that were pressed into the brown. A row of small circles, followed by a row of tiny leaves and in the centre an oval stone, with a pretty striped design, was laced down to the cover. I had started doodling, a line of swirls on the hand made pages inside it, when the bell rang.

The boy, who was sitting across the aisle from me, leant over to talk to me.

"Dom-min-ekk-a Bel-li-kov?" he said in the same tone as I had said to Mr. Jefferson. I snorted, much to his delight.

"Yeah, that's me." I held out my hand again. He laughed taking it to shake.

"I knew that look, the one that says that he had no idea how to pronounce my name. I was giving him a hint." I said taking my hand back.

"I'm Ben, Ben Browder. Your name's a bit unique, especially for Port Angeles. Where are you from?"

I sighed, knowing I'd probably have to repeat myself for the rest of the day and most likely the rest of the week. "I was born in Minnesota, but my mother and I moved around a lot when I was younger." I added knowing I had nothing like the southern drawl that I should have coming from that far south.

"My father and his family were born in Russia. He immigrated when he was young. He died before I was born but my mother wanted me to remember him so choose a Russian name for me." I paused long enough to realise that this guy was practically hanging on my every word. "A very Russian name. You can call me Demi if you want to. I don't mind cause I know its hard to say."

"Nah, I like Dominica, Its different. So where's you next class?" He said in one breath.

Um. Oh shoot, I'd already forgotten. So much for memorising my schedule. I rummaged through my bag, "Um, Government, in building five with Ms. Palmer."

"Oh, that's good. She's really nice, you'll like her." He paused, "I'm headed towards building four, I could show you the way if you want."

"Thanks," I replied trying not to sound too, I don't know, desperate. I hadn't been around this many people in such a long time, I craved their company. Even from this guy, who seemed like one of those overly helpful, nerdy types. Maybe I hadn't had enough social interaction.

We got our coats and headed out. As I had thought before, the clouds were now producing a torrent of rain making it hard to see anything. I pulled the hood up around my face to try to keep from getting too wet. I could have sworn that several people behind us were walking close enough to eavesdrop. Paranoid guardian training, my mother would be proud. Gah!

"So, what school did you go to before this one?" He did seem generally interested. But I couldn't help but think that he was just gathering information that he could trade with his friend at lunch to make him seem cool. His brown hair was getting soaked and curling in all sorts of angles around his head.

"Well, um, I didn't really go to school. My mother has been home schooling me since I was ten."

We rounded the corner of another building. "Whoa? Really?" he sounded just a little too fake for my liking. "So, eh, why'd she stop? I mean, I don't mind that she stopped but I mean well you've got, what a year left of school and she'd been doing it for what…..?"

"Six years," I finished. "She has her work commitments. She needed more time to focus on them. I don't mind really. Gives me more time to myself."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well, you guys here do, what, seven hour days with, like, an hour lunch, right?"

"Only forty minutes for lunch, but yeah?" he answered tentatively.

"Well, she'd get me to do a ten hour day with two half hour breaks. One in the morning and one in the afternoon."

He glanced at me with a questioning look, "Seriously?"

"Yeah," I looked down the cement we were walking along. "But technically I'm only a freshman, I haven't even had my sixteenth birthday yet. With all my extra studying they skipped me to senior year. Plus I know two other languages and I'm learning a third."

"Oh. Cool." Ben looked away probably wishing he was somewhere else.

Oh god, I'm such a nerd. Great work Demi, try to make friends by telling them all how much smarter you are compared to them. Just great.

We walked back around the cafeteria, to the south buildings by the gym and the student car park. He pointed to the last building in the row, "That's you down there. You should be able to find it from here, right?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." I replied without looking at him.

"So maybe we'll have some other classes together. Otherwise, I'll see you at lunch." He smiled a toothy grin at me.

"Um, okey, sure. See you at lunch, then." I said returning his smile. Well I suppose not a total loss. A bit uncomfortable maybe but he did seem genuine about seeing me at lunch. Maybe I hadn't made a complete idiot of myself.

I squelched along the pathway to the end building.

The rest of the morning passed pretty much uneventfully. Ms. Palmer was nice just like Ben had said. But I think I was biased because she was the first in a long time to actually pronounce my name with out stuttering and mixing it up. She even spoke a little Russian, though, she did stumble with that. She told me, in Russian, that her Granny taught her a few phrases. I replied back to her in my fluent Russian, accent and all and much to her surprise, that she should probable stick to something easier like English. But she didn't understand me.

I didn't see Ben at lunch, so I just ate my bagged lunch at an empty table in the corner of the cafeteria. Heaps of people stole fleeting glances at me but no one came to talk to me. I guess I was a freak. To smart for my own good. The rest of the afternoon was just as worse.

Trig, which I actually liked, was boring beyond belief. I started to resent my mother for making me study so hard. We were doing matricis. Yawn. I actually read ahead to keep me from falling asleep when the teacher was explaining how they worked. And when he finally set some work to do. I finished the problems in under ten minutes, giving me the last twenty-five minutes of the class to stare at the blackboard. The teacher had obviously noticed me not working and strolled over to chastise me for not raising my hand for help. When I told him I had finished them, he practically snatched my folder from me to examine my work.

"Good work Miss Belikov." He said as he tossed the folder back down on the desk.

"Thank you, sir." I muttered back to him. I spent the rest of the lesson staring at different parts of the walls or at the floor.

After Trig, I had a class called 'The study of Biological Science and Nature'. Which I swear was just an overly descriptive name for Biology. Why didn't people just say what they mean, instead of garbling it. That how come things get lost in translation.

Again, I sat through this class staring at random walls and the floor. Dissecting a frog would have been more interesting. The teacher, Mr. Jones or Mr. Johns or something, was prattling on about inherited genetics for most of the lesson, then he moved onto dominate and recessive genes. My ears pricked up at this and I was actually actively listening to the last half of the lesson. The final bell shrilled at the end of class and I packed my things into my bag. I carried my folder, though, having got a shoulder ache by lunch when it was in the bag with the rest of my things.

I was crossing a patch of green grass when I heard my name being called, "Dominica! Hey wait up!"

I turned to the direction of the voice, "Oh hey Ben."

"Sorry I missed you at lunch. I got detention for talking in class. How was the rest of your day?" He was breathless but still managed to get all that out in one gulp.

"Yeah, that's okey." I stopped, almost forgetting where I parked my car. "Oh shoot, I parked my car in the office car park." I started rummaging through my bag for that stupid map.

Ben eyed me. "What? You think I'm too young to be driving?" I snapped.

"No, No." He held his hands up in defence, "I was just wondering how you managed to park in the office car park without getting told off. The rest of us have to get here at the butt crack of dawn to get a decent spot in the student car park. Do you want me to walk you to your car?"

I gave up looking for the map, "Yeah sure."

The rain had stopped somewhere between Trig and Biology but the grass was still slick with wetness. We walked the rest of the way across the grass up towards the back of the office building.

"Oh, that wasn't too hard. I feel like a spaz."

"So do you think you need any help with your homework?" Was he fishing for a date or something? It was kinda weird.

"Oh nah. I should be right. And anyway I have to get home for training. If I don't log decent hours, my mum will kick my butt when she gets home." Thinking about the two hour training session she probably had planned for me for the afternoon.

"What time does she get home?" He asked inquisitively.

"Oh, in about two weeks." I smiled and got into my car without hearing what he said in reply.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I do not own VA or Twilight or any other book/TVshows/movies that I may or may not have referenced in this piece. **

**Chapter 3. Away time**

I was right.

When I got home, sitting in the dining room was a big portable white board divided up into a two week training schedule. Complete with morning and afternoon sessions. I groaned.

On closer inspection, she had lined up some outsider help four times a week. With me having to visit the Martial Arts Centre, where she had gotten a job, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and Saturday morning. She had written the address on the opposite side of the board along with another one for the Yoga instructor she had lined up for me on Friday afternoons.

For Monday and Wednesday afternoons and Sundays, after church, she had devised a two hour track circuit for me to run through consisting of weigh training, stamina building and endurance. This was all on top of the running I was to do every morning before school.

She had even left little spaces for me to write my times in for running. I sighed. You just have to love her preparedness.

The schedule had me start at four and most of the training went for two hour blocks. So I had a little time before I started, to do some homework. Mr. Jones or Mr. Johns or whatever his name was, my biology teacher had set relatively easy homework. We were to read that chapter on inherited genetics from the text book. He also mentioned that there might be a pop quiz on it in the next class. Though, I had to wonder, if he had told us about it then technically it wasn't a pop quiz. It was just a regular old test.

I read through it, nothing really peaking my interest. I would probably have forgotten it by tomorrow, anyway. Then I breezed through the circuit that my mother had set out, mostly focusing on the punching bag.

She had left a number of notes throughout the house including one on the oven saying '_turn me on at six to 180°_' and another one saying '_the red stuff's in the fridge in the basement'_.

That was another reminder of the attack six years ago. It was shortly after those events that my body decided it absolutely needed to take in small quantities of blood every couple of days. It was a few days after the attack. We had quickly left the town and were held up in a small bed and breakfast in Texes. She found me in the fridge at about two in the morning, after finding my bed empty, with a piece of raw steak in my mouth. She said I must have been sleepwalking or something because when she had asked me what I was doing dropped the steak and turned. She said I had a vague look on my face like I had just woken up and when she asked me again what I was doing, I denied everything.

After that and once we had settled in New Mexico she had taken to buying a small stock pile of donated blood to have on hand for when I get those unexpected cravings.

Which, I was actually having. So after I finished the circuit, I put the oven on to reheat the lasagne, went and had my shower changing into my favourite pyjamas which were grey-blue boy legs and a white singlet top with a darker blue butterfly design, and went to the basement.

It was fairly spacious down there. Mum had obviously gone to a lot of trouble to have everything unpacked and in its place before she left and I know she had spent most of the weekend doing it. The floor of the basement was just regular concrete that had been painted white, the walls had the same treatment as had the rooms only window, giving the room a light feeling. More gym equipment had been set up down here too, to complement the ones that had been set up in the study upstairs.

But there was also an old looking recliner and mat set up in the corner next to an ancient looking fridge. Just as the note had said there were seven packets, each about the size of your hand, in the veggie crisper and nothing else. I grabbed one, and sat down, popping the tiny rubber stopper as I went.

I must have spaced out, because I was suddenly aware that the oven timer was buzzing away loudly. I got up throwing the now empty sachet into the trash bin at the bottom of the stairs. I cut myself a small slice of lasagne, I usually wasn't that hungry after 'the red stuff' but I ate it anyway.

I spent the rest of the night doing the remainder of my homework, which only consisted of a few trig matrices and a few chapters Romeo and Juliet. I went to bed generally tired and slept right through.

The next day started as the previous one had only I didn't have my mother screaming at me to wake up. My alarm was a good substitute. I ran again this time shaving a few seconds off my personal best. Mum would be proud.

Today I parked in the student car park. Ben had been right, I was never going to get a space here unless I got here at, like, 5 am. Crap!

I had English, again, first up. My least favourite subject. Followed up by my second least favourite subject, Biology. Ben was in English again and greeted me with a smile. We chatted for a while before Mr Jefferson started the class.

"So where'd your mum go?" He asked picking the conversation back off where I had left it yesterday.

"Um, I don't know. Something to do with work." I said truthfully.

"She do that very often?"

I glanced down at my shoes. "Yeah, um, every so often." My attempt to sound vague, became more wistful then anything.

"Oh. Kinda sucks that she left just as you were starting somewhere new."

"Yeah well," I said trying not to sound uncomfortable, "you know how it is with timing and all that."

Before he had a chance to ask any more questions, Mr Jefferson had Ben read in front of the class.

Surprisingly, the morning flew by relatively fast. By lunch I had started to recognise several other faces from my classes. There were a few braver than the others who would introduce themselves and ask me questions about how I was liking Port Angeles. But never much more then that.

Ben sort me out at lunch. His head bobbing along in the lunch line as he tried to catch my attention. I had packed a bagged lunch for myself again and had sat at the same table as yesterday. He found me, almost slamming is tray down as he come to a halt next to me.

"So, how was the rest of your morning?" He asked as he stuffed some greasy French fries in his mouth.

"Um, yeah. It was okey, I guess." I answered, tossing half of my sandwich down on the table.

A curious half smirk crept across his face, "You don't like to talk much, do you." The way he said it, it was a statement not a question.

I looked straight at him, "No. I suppose I don't really."

He looked a bit hurt at my answer. "I can go sit somewhere else, if you want me to. I'll leave you alone." He started to rise, grabbing his unfinished tray.

But I grabbed his arm, "No. Don't go if you don't want to. It's just, after six years of little to no social life," I paused to order my words so I didn't sound like a desperate freak, "I'm kinda lacking a few social skills. That's all."

He sat back down and started munching his French fries again.

"I'm sorry if I'm being rude all the time," I said picking up my sandwich again. "Maybe I should wear a rubber band."

He looked at me totally confused. "What?"

"You know, so if I'm being anti-social or something. A quick snap of the band to bring me back to reality." I gave him a half smile.

A burst of laughter echoed around the cafeteria. "You know what? You are weird, Dominica." He enunciated each syllable and laughed again.

I giggle along with him, "Thanks. So, I don't know, just tell me when I space. Okey?"

"Yeah sure." He said as he picked up his now empty lunch tray. "So what class do you have next?"

"Spanish. But only because they made me take a language. Like I said yesterday, I already know Russian and Romanian and I'm just learning Italian. But it was either that or French. So I just went with Spanish."

He dumped his tray in the trash.

"Whoa." He eyes bugged out exaggeratingly.

"What?" I said as I followed him out of the cafeteria.

"That's probably the most I've heard you say in one sentence since you got here."

I glared at him.

"Hey," he held his hands up defensively, "Snap!"

"Sorry." I said realising exactly what he meant.

"Don't worry. We'll endure it together." He put his arm around my shoulder, "Come on."

I almost immediately shrugged out of his arm but I stopped, leaving it there for a short while as we walked towards Spanish class together.

So that's how it was with Ben and me. An easy friendship. Him doing most of the talking and me usually just nodding along to whatever he said. He was really nice and considering not many other people went out of their way to talk to me, it was comforting.

By Thursday of the following week I was settled. Having comfortable conversations with Ben. Following my mothers training schedule to the dime. I was actually looking forward to her coming home in a few days. I missed her. I sure she be glad to hear that I was doing great at school to. Well, almost. Apart from all my other subjects, Gym was the hardest. Which would normally make no sense, considering all the training and running I did before and after school. But that was different.

When I trained, I was just me. Occasionally mum, but usually just me. And I had great difficulty in Gym because everything was team orientated. The first two lessons were playing basketball. Don't get my wrong, I was pretty good at it. But in the end I just mostly hogged the ball not letting anyone on my team near it. Which obviously annoyed a lot of people. So I tried to do it less. But that made me self conscious and that's when I started tripping over my own feet and that's when Coach Klapp started to notice me.

He pulled me aside at the start of Thursdays afternoon lesson sighting that I shouldn't try so hard or hold back for that matter. He could see that I was self conscious and so he asked me if I had played any sports before. I didn't lie when I told him I hadn't.

"I'm not much of a team player, sir." I mumbled into the floor.

"Well, you don't look unhealthy." Was his answer as he looked me up and down. Which made me feel even more self conscious.

"Don't get me wrong, Coach, I'm very fit. I run and take kick boxing and ju-jitsu classes." God, I hated justifying my craziness.

"Okey, well, that's a start. What are your times like? How long do you take for a mile?" The gears in his head started clicking over.

" Um, well. I mostly do long distance running. I can do ten miles in just under forty minutes. So, I guess, if you work it out I can do a mile in about three and a half minutes." I said still looking at the ground.

I looked up just in time to see the surprised look on his face. "That's a pretty decent time. How would you feel about joining our track team? We'll give you a trial first, of corse, but if you do as well as I hope you do. It'll get you out of this class and away from doing more damage to the rest of the student population."

I grimaced to the reference of the other days incident where I tried to get out of the way of the ball so someone else could get it and I took three other players, including from my own team, down to the ground.

He lead me out of the gym down to the oval where another class was already in session. I spotted Ben in amongst the other students and he waved like crazy at me. I just smiled back, like I normally did.

"Max!" He almost shouted to the other Gym teacher, "this girl wants to run!" He clapped me on the back, taking me by surprise and making me stagger forward just a little.

She turned to look at me. Eyeing me the same way Coach Klapp had earlier.

"Alright," she said, "warm up. I'll give you a go as soon as I finished get these guys organised."

So I started doing my warm up stretches. Doing the same routine as I did every morning.

I hadn't realised that she had finished until she was standing in front of me as I was completing a calf stretch on the ground. She was young. Very young. Maybe just outta collage young. She had pale almost beautiful features. Something about her heart-shaped face, her billows of caramel coloured hair, reminded me of the ingénues of the silent movie era. She was small, slender but had a muscular roundness to her.

She held out her hand to help me up, "I'm Coach Hale. But call me Max, everyone else here does."

I took it and she practically launched me to my feet. "Gee, your really light, how much do you weigh?"

"What?" I must have looked confused but it was her next question that really caught me of guard.

"So how long have you being running for?"

Something in the way that she said it made me stop. How long had I been running for? Or better yet, how long had my mother being running for. A thousand thoughts rushed into my head, all the attacks from the Strigoi, the story's my mother had told me, my father. Of corse she didn't know. No one did. It was just her tone. Her manner. My paranoia coming back to haunt me.

I was lost in my own thoughts when she waved her hand a few inches from my face, "Ah, hello, space cadet?"

"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking. I don't really know how long now but ever since I could remember, I guess. My mums this sort of fitness freak and she has me running with her every morning." I was babbling to cover the previous awkwardness.

"Okey, line up." She replied pointing to the track. "We'll see how you do on short distance."

"So, one mile?" I asked as I lined myself up with the line markings.

"What? No. A hundred yards. Just to the end before the bend." She pointed away in the distance.

"Oh," I said lifting my head. "I'm just used to doing distance stuff. That's all."

She shifted. Her hands, which were holding on to a stop watch, dropped to her side. A smile playing to her lips. "What kinda distances?"

"Well, eh, I did ten miles this morning. Um, I do ten miles every morning, before school." I shifted my weight.

Her mouth dropped. "Well, I suppose we can just skip the short distance stuff and get you kicking the long distances." She paused, "Okey, four laps around the track makes one mile."

I relined myself up with the lines and gritted my teeth.

"Get set."

I placed my fingertips on the line.

"GO!" Her voice was loud but short.

I got a good start, falling into my natural rhythm. But instead of slacking back like I had being sorta doing for my regular runs, I pushed myself hard. I mush have being doing alright with my time, because Ben and some of the other students from his class had stopped playing Lacrosse and stood on the edge of their field watching me.

I glanced towards Coach Hale as I passed her for a second time. She held three fingers up indicating how many laps I had done. I pushed myself even more. My muscles screamed at me.

My mother had once given me techniques to help me run faster. One of them being a suggestion that a Strigoi was chasing me and I had to go as fast as I could to escape them. I was a simple idea but it did make me run faster at the time. I tried it now. I pictured together the description my mother had given me and my own experiences and imagined this pale, red eyed monster swiping at my heals as I ran. Trying to catch me so that he could kill me or drain me of my blood or worst of all, turn me into a Strigoi.

It kinda worked. Until I hit the last bend in the track and a fleeting sunbeam that escaped the cloud cover hit my eyes at a certain angle reminding me that a Strigoi would not be out in the during the day. I kinda slowed down at that thought.

As I passed over the finish line a cheer went up from the small crowd of onlookers. Ben's being the loudest. Coach Hale came over and clapped me on the back as I panted though the warm down. It must be a thing that all the P.E. teachers do.

"Wow, that was great!" She exclaimed. "But you kind of slowed down at the last turn. Did you run out of steam?"

"Yeah kinda," I puffed.

"Well your time is still great." She said as she held up the stop watch. "And…. If you keep it up then you'll be a great addition to the track team." She beamed me a smile.

"Finish you warm down. Then I want you to run laps the rest of class, okey." She glanced back to her class, who were no longer playing Lacrosse but were instead just milling around the field chatting with each other. "We'll talk logistics then."

Well at least I had gotten out of that other class. Though, I'm not so sure how my mother would react. Maybe she would be proud at the fact I'm on a team or maybe she would be angry at me bringing attention to myself. At the moment I didn't really care. She wasn't here to pass judgement, I'd just have to weather the storm when she came back to town.

After class had finished, Ben came running up to me. "Holy crow! You were so fast! I couldn't believe it and neither could the rest of the guys." He grinned at me as he grabbed me around the waist.

"Ahem." Busted. Coach Hale had come up behind us. " Mr. Browder, when I said hit the showers, I meant hit the showers, Now! Not when you felt like it. Go!" She pointed towards the gym

He smiled sheepishly as he released me. "Sorry, Coach. Just congratulating Dominica here for making the track team."

He turned back to me, "I'll see you soonish, okey?" I rolled my eyes at him and he stopped, "You promised." he said in a low voice.

I gave him a quick nod and turned around.

"Sorry Coach." I stammered as she gave me a disapproving look.

Her look changed to a stern one, "Just keep the boyfriend stuff away from me, I don't want to have to sight you two for anything."

"Boyfriend?" I frowned, "Ben and I are just friends." The confused feeling from earlier came back with a vengeance.

"Does he know that?" She laughed as she slung a bag full of Lacrosse equipment over her shoulder. "Do you mind?" She threw a look at the other bag.

"Yeah, sure." I grabbed the bag and followed her as she led me to the staff rooms at the back of the gym.

"So, what did you promise him, then?" She asked as she threw her bag down in the supply closet. I did the same.

"Um, just that he could come to one of my ju-jitsu classes to watch. But I don't think it's a really good idea."

"Why not?" Her head cocked to one side with a questioning look.

" Well." I tried not to sound to vague. "It's just…." I couldn't finish.

"Don't worry, I get it…. Martial Arts can be pretty intense. Takes a lot of focus. And you think by him seeing you practice, that he'll see another side of you that you might not want him to see. You think it might scare him."

Whoa, she did get it. I just stared at her for a long time not really comprehending where the conversation had led.

She just stared right back with a knowing in her eyes.

"You know, I'm not just a teacher…." She paused. Adding, only after what seemed an eternity, "I'm a human being, too."

"Okey, so I have some paperwork that I need you and your parents to sign. Standard stuff." She said as I now followed her to her desk.

"Oh," I flinched.

"What?" She looked up at me as she sat at her desk leafing through a pile of paper.

"My mums out of town at the moment. She wont be back till next week. Is it okey if I bring it back then?"

"I'll need to talk to her about some things. But I can hold off doing it for a few days. So long as we have everything signed by this time next week. There is a track meet next weekend and I want you to be all signed up and legal for it."

"Okey, I'll let you know when she's back."

"Excellent." She smiled a wide toothy smile at me handing me a stack of permission and waver forms as I got up to leave.

There was something about Coach Hale. I liked her, a lot. She had this kind of, I don't know, knowing about her. I felt as if she knew all my secrets but at the same time she wouldn't tell any of them either.

It was weird.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I do not own VA or Twilight or any other book/TVshows/movies that I may or may not have referenced in this piece. **

**Chapter 4. Dates and Rejection**

I was meeting Ben in the car park after my meeting with Coach Hale. He was waiting for me though, just outside the Gym looking lazy and cute, leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed as he watched me.

"Do you want me to drive or do you want to?" he asked me as I reached him.

"Why don't we take both cars. I mean sometimes I don't finish till late and if you want to go home." I paused trying to gauge his reaction. "You wont have to wait for me." I smiled at him but he frowned back at me.

"If you really don't want me to come." He looked at his feet, speaking softly, "I wont."

Aww. Crap. Stupid reverse psychology. I rolled my eyes regretting it instantly as he started leaving. I grabbed his arm. "It's not that Ben. I just don't want you to be bored or anything. It really dose take a long time and I wont be able to talk to you at all."

He didn't say anything, he just sulked.

"Okey, Snap!" I sighed.

He looked up with an instant grin.

"How about we both drive back to your place. I'll leave my car there and you can drive. I'm going to be having dinner at your house again anyway." I rolled my eyes again this time in a more playful way.

"Deal," he said grabbing my hand and dragging me towards the parking lot.

I suppose it didn't go too badly. My lesson went they same way it normally went. A warm up followed by a demonstration followed by technique practice and finally sparing. I sneaked glances at Ben the whole time trying to decipher his strange expression. It wasn't an unhappy one or scared or anything like that it was more of an exhilarated one. Like any moment he would jump up and join me.

It did put me off a little while I was sparing. I was partnered with Stan my instructor, I wasn't actually permitted to spar with any one else for some reason that I knew had to do with my mother, and I caught a glance of Ben moving. He was probably just moving to get a better look or something but it distracted me enough that Stan landed a three pointer on the side of my head sending me sprawling out of bounds and off the mat.

I wasn't unconscious or anything. Just dazed.

Stan held his hand out, "You okey?"

"Yeah." I mumbled grabbing his hand to help me up. I rubbed the side of my head. "That was a good one."

"You seen more distracted then usual." He said as he glanced over to where Ben was standing. The strange look on Ben's face was replaced with one of concern. "Maybe you should leave the boyfriend at home next time." He held back his laughter.

"Nice Stan," I glared at him, "and he's not my boyfriend. He's just a friend."

"Who happens to be a boy." He wore a huge grin.

I just rolled my eyes at him. God I seemed to be doing that a lot today.

"So, do you want to keep going?" I asked as I straightened myself out.

"Nah, I'm kicking your butt anyway, why don't we call it quits. You can help some of the younger kids with their technique."

I blushed, "Yes, Sensei." We bowed to each other and left the ring.

On the drive back to Ben's place he was completely silent. I was glad because I was starting to get a headache and I was thinking about other things. Like the fact that my mother was due back in four days. I had kept up well with her training schedule but I knew with her motivating me I could do a whole lot better.

Which made me start having an internal debate with myself. Why should I do better when she was around? I shouldn't have to depend on her for motivation or anything for that matter. I had done well while she was away sticking to a routine and not living on Junk food the whole time. Though I had to give credit to Mrs Browder for feeding me most of the time.

She had become accustom to my presence most evenings sitting at her breakfast bar with Ben doing our homework together. She and the rest of Ben's family were great. His mum stayed at home to take care of Ben's four year old sister, Cassie and Ben's Dad worked in City Planning. They were all just so easy to get along with just like Ben.

The car trip only took a short while and before I knew it we were sitting in his driveway next to my red bug. He started to get out of the car. But I tugged on his sleave before he could slip out of the open door.

"What's up?" I asked not really wanting to know what he was thinking. I was right not to want him to see me at a practice. I knew he didn't like it.

He just stared ahead for ages before he turned to me and spoke.

"It's just, even though you did tell me you could do that stuff, I could never really picture it. Your such a sweet girl and when your instructor hit you like that, I don't know…" He didn't finish.

I knew what he was thinking. He wanted to be all heroic and do the whole chivalry thing. I wanted to tell him that I could handle myself, well usually. But then, I didn't want to hurt his feelings.

I stared at him without saying anything. He eyed me, "Your really good but."

I had a thought, "Why don't you ask your mum and dad if you can take lessons, too?" With him participating maybe I'd be less distracted.

"Maybe," his voice sounded doubtful and I knew it was because his parents didn't like violence. They had both frowned at me across the dinner table the other night when I told them that I did Ju-jitsu and Kick Boxing.

"Lets go. We're going to be late for dinner." He finally said.

The next day was pretty uneventful. Ben was still in the strange mood from the night before but I didn't mention it. However, he did take me by surprise at lunch.

As soon as he sat down he was acting funny. Staring out into space and not talking. And then, like a light bulb going off in his head, he asked me, "Hey, do you want to go to a movie on Saturday night."

He was so focused on asking me that he didn't even realise that he had interrupted me. I just looked at him for a few moments trying to work out what he was thinking.

"Um, sure. What do you want to see?" I asked curiously.

He didn't even answer my question, "It's just that your mum's due back on Monday and if she's anything like how you described her, she wont want you hanging out with me all that often. Please don't say no."

Huh? It was like he had rehearsed this, like a speech and he though that I would automatically say no. Am I that transparent? "Hello, space cadet? I did say yes. Are you listening?" I poked him.

His eyes kinda unglazed, "Really?"

"Yeah." I paused, grinning, "You know? I think I'm going to have to get you your own imaginary rubber band."

He smiled for the first time that day. A big goofy grin. "Cool!"

The rest of the day passed all fast and blurry which I thought was great.

It was the weekend. Yay! I had made plans to meet Ben at his house after my morning Ju-jitsu lesson with Stan.

Cassie answered the door, "Demi!" Her eyes lit up when she saw me standing there. She was such a happy kid. "Ben's still sleeping but you can help mummy and me make brownies." She smiled as she grabbed my hand. I quickly glanced at the clock on the wall it was just after 1pm and he was still sleeping. Huh? I'd been up since 5am, training. Lazy boy.

Mrs Browder was in the kitchen surrounded by all sorts of cooking apparatuses. She smiled warmly as we both came through the kitchen door. "Hello, Dominica." She said as she wiped her hands on her apron. "I'll go wake Ben up."

"No, no. That's fine Mrs Browder, let him sleep." I smiled at her.

So she went back to helping Cassie stir the brownie batter through. I sat on my usual spot at the breakfast bar to watched them. I don't ever remember doing this with my mum. It looked nice. Cassie was a ball of giggles as she accidentally slopped a large portion of the mixture on the bench. "Whoops." She giggled.

Ben came out of his room about 2:30ish just as the brownies were coming out of the oven, he must of smelled them. He wore only cotton pyjama bottoms and seemed surprised to see me, "Oh, hey, Dominica. I didn't hear you come in."

"That's cause you were snorin'," Cassie pipped up as she was licking the left over chocolate frosting from a spoon.

"Ben!" Mrs Browder said in a harsh voice, "go put a shirt on. We have a guest!" Her tone was hard making both me and Ben blush.

"Sorry mum." He said as he disappeared back up stairs to change.

We left as soon as Ben had showered and changed. It was about an hours drive to Seattle. The whole way we chatted. Ben mostly about his family. When he asked me about mine, I didn't really say much. What was there to tell? Yeah, my grandmother dumped my mother in a boarding school at age 4 and barely acknowledged her existence until she left at 18. She refused to tell her who her father was or anything about her family for that matter. My mother was the only family I had ever known. My father had been turned Strigoi before I was even born and I never even seen a picture of him. And now his weirdo extended family popped up every now and then to try to drain me of my blood or kill me. How pathetic am I?

I mostly just listened and nodded along like normal adding a few bits here and there. We got to Seattle about 4:30 which was way to early for the movie or even dinner so we just wondered aimlessly around the mall for a while. Ben constantly pointing out random things, like dresses and video games, asking me if I like them. Mostly I shook my head.

"Why do you keep asking me that?" I asked as I finally grew annoyed.

"Just wanna know what stuff you like, that's all. You seem to answer better when I ask yes or no questions rather then asking you straight out what you like." I gave me his goofy smile.

I just scowled at him and look at the ground refusing to answer any more when he asked.

"Oh, snap." He said after I refused to talk to him for about half an hour. "The movie's going to start soon."

I looked at him rolling my eyes. "Okey, lets go."

He grinned at me. "She speaks!"

I gave him another dirty look as he grabbed my hand and dragged me into the cinema. I couldn't really focus on the movie. Though, I was never one to keep still for that long. Hence the reason for the Yoga lessons. Mum said that it would teach me control and patience. But I had to be in constant motion. Sitting here in the dark cinema was really pissing me off. I couldn't focus on the movie, I couldn't focus on Ben. I didn't even realise that he was holding my hand until I started clenching it tightly and he winced. He probably just thought that I was scared or something because it was a slasher flick we were watching.

I looked around a lot. Trying to concentrate on the few other people that were in there too. Nope. That wasn't going to do it. I looked at the ceiling, though it was dark, I could just make out faint dots along the roof. Thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty.

Blah. I was going to go insane if this stupid movie didn't end, quickly!

Finally the stupid credits rolled over the screen. Oh god I was relieved. Just to get out of there. I don't know how I would react if I was put in jail or if I was stuck in a lift or something. Bash my brains in.

Ben still hadn't let go of my hand as we now walked to the food court. It was about 8pm, now and nearly all the counters were closed. Except for one selling Pizza. I pulled my hand from his.

"I'll just have whatever your having, Okey?"

I sat down at one of a handful of tables and he joined me a few minutes later.

"See what I've hunted!" He announced as he placed two slices of pizza and two cokes on the table in front of me.

I winced at his terminology. Hoping he didn't see me, I made a grab for one of the cokes. I wasn't really hungry, well, not for anything that this food court had to offer. My mind wondered back to the basement.

"So?" he asked me questionably.

"So?" I repeated. It was obvious that his question had gone completely over my head.

He smiled and just shook his head as he took a giant bite of his slice.

He finished chewing, "What was it like living in all those different places?"

"I don't know. Kinda sad I guess." I said taking a sip of my coke.

"Sad? Why sad?" He asked.

"It's just…." I paused. "We never stayed in a place long enough for me to connect with anyone. After I was ten, we never stayed in a place longer then six months." I winced at the dredged up memory, unconsciously I stroked my left forearm.

But he must of seen me, "It's when you got that, Isn't it." He said as he pointed to my left hand.

I didn't answer. Strong emotions swirled around me. But I couldn't pinpoint exactly how I felt. It was weird that Ben had made the connection with my hand. I don't know if I felt relieved or scared or angry. God get a grip, Demi.

We finished eating in silence. Before Ben spoke again, "Come on, Its getting late. I don't want you yawing in church in the morning. What will the priest think?" He smirked trying to break the tension.

"Okey, lets go." I plonked down my slice of pizza that I had barely touched.

He grabbed my hand again. Squeezing it tightly. "You don't mind, do you?" he glanced down to where our hands were touching.

My head was still swirling around like a washing machine. I was good to have contact with someone. I was really wishing that my mother would get back sooner then she planned, surprising me by being there when I got home. But I knew that the house would be just as empty as I had left it this afternoon.

I never answered his question. And he never let go.

Kinda creepy. But nice.

We slowly walked back to his car. Not speaking. Just, I don't know, enjoying each other. But as we got to his car and I reached out to open the passenger door he grabbed me around the waist.

His eyes were smouldering, staring deep into mine. I didn't know what to do or how to react. I'd never been in a situation like this. One that I couldn't kick or scream my way out of.

"You know, Dominica," Oh god he said my name in full, "I really like you."

I smiled back at him. Not knowing what to say in return. I liked him too but not in the same way he obviously did. He was my best friend. My only friend. How sad am I. Had I been leading him on? How? I didn't even know how to lead someone on. My mind went back to the laundry cycle. Swirling around like it was on spin cycle.

He stepped forward, pulling me closer to him. I could feel the warmth from his body. His lips felt amazingly warm in the freezing air. It wasn't earth shattering like I had always expected my first kiss to be. It was sweet and nice - just like Ben was - a friendly sort of kiss that maybe could turn into something more. At least, that was how I saw it. From the look on Ben's face, it appeared his whole world had been rocked.

He was kissing me. I was kissing him back. His hands resting on the smalls of my back and mine on the sides of his arms. This was wrong. I opened my eyes. I didn't want this. I wanted to be his friend. Not this. I pressed my hands to his chest pushing him gently away. He opened his eyes. Shock spreading across his face.

"I'm sorry." I stuttered out looking down to the black asphalt. "It's just…." I didn't finish.

He waited a moment before asking, "Did I hurt you? Did I do something wrong?"

I hung my head. I was ashamed. I knew it. I had led him on. God I just wish my mother was home. I really needed to talk to her.

"No, Ben. Its not that."

"Well what is it then?" He sounded a bit angry.

"I told you before, we've never stayed in a place longer then six months. It wouldn't be fair on you," I paused again watching his face sadden, "or me for that matter to get into anything…. Heavy. You're my friend. My best friend." And only friend I though.

He touched my face, slowly sliding his fingertips alone my jaw, from my ear to my chin, back and forth. I trembled. I regretted my harsh words. But I knew it was the right thing.

His hand dropped silently and he slowly walked around to the drivers side door.

The drive home was awkwardly silent. The kind of silent that rung in your ears. I knew he wanted more and maybe I did too. But It wouldn't be fair. I knew we would just pack up and leave again as soon as mum said so. Breaking his heart. And mine along with it. It sucked. It sucked major. Why did my mother have to drag me around the country. Ripping up any roots I laid as we went. Why?

I knew the answer. It was me. It was because I was so different. The Strigoi hunted me. And if any other Moroi or Dhampir knew about me, they'd probably hunt me too.

Oh god, why was I even born??


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: I do not own VA or Twilight or any other book/TVshows/movies that I may or may not have referenced in this piece. **

**Chapter 5. Unexpected guests and burning.**

When we got back to Ben's house he hadn't said a word to me. He was sad. I could see it in his face. He didn't even look back as he went inside and closed the door behind him. I got in my car and drove home.

The rest of the weekend blazed past. I really needed to talk to mum. Maybe this time would be different. I mean, she had let me start school here. Maybe we could stay. Maybe we wouldn't have to move again. Maybe I could control myself. Arg! Why couldn't I be normal. Human. My mind throbbed with a head ache by Monday and I even contemplated ditching school in favour of staying home. But mum was due home today and if she had found me at home waiting for her, I'd never hear the end of it.

So I drove to school.

Ben wasn't in English. I had a sneaking suspicion it was because of me.

Who was I kidding?? It was me.

I sunk deeper into my depression and by lunch time a fierce wind was blowing making me regret the decision to go to school today. My head ache grew progressively worse and by the end of the day I could barely walk around. I considered calling mum on my cell to see if she was home and could pick me up. But I passed on that idea.

I drove home slower then normal. Pulling up in my usual spot out the front of the house I noticed straight away that mum's car wasn't parked in the garage. Perhaps she was getting in later tonight.

My head ached so bad that dark spots floated just on the edge of my vision. I skipped my afternoon training session in favour of a couple Tylenol and a nap.

I must have slept heavily because when I woke up it was the next morning. I slept straight through the night. I had no idea what time it was, I had forgotten to set my alarm last night. I look blearily over to my nightstand.

8:15AM

Oh crap! What the hell? I was so late. Mum was going to kick my butt. Why hadn't she woken me up. I rolled off the bed fumbling for my jeans on the floor. I pulled my fingers through my knotty hair drawing it into a messy ponytail. Ugh!

The house was empty. Mum hadn't got home yet. Weird. She said she'd be home yesterday. Two weeks ago.

I didn't have time to think. I was so late. I practically ran from the house and drove like a maniac to school. I made it just in time before the second warning bell almost diving in through the door of English as it shrilled. Ben was here today. Though he didn't look at me as I entered the class. He looked as if he hadn't slept, with dark smudges under his eyes. I wanted to lean over and talk to him but Mr. Jefferson was in a bad mood today and was lashing out at everyone. I didn't want to be caught up in his issues.

I would just have to wait till lunch.

But he didn't. As soon as the bell had rang. He grabbed my hand barely allowing me time to gather my things and pulled me through the door.

He pulled me along without saying a word until we were around the back of the building. We stopped just out of everyone else's sight.

"I don't care." He mumbled. "I don't care that you might leave in a month or six months or tomorrow." He kissed me deeply. Passionately. Not wanting to let go. I had my back pressed up against the cold wall. I arched upwards, letting his lips press harder against mine while his hands slipped under the bottom of my shirt. They trailed upward along my stomach, just barely tracing the edge of my bra.

Then suddenly he pulled back. His eyes staring into mine. Then he left. I just stood there. Dumbstruck. I couldn't move.

My cell snapped me out of it. Shrilling as I reached for it. I didn't recognise the number

"Mum? Is that you, mum?" She had sometimes called from weird numbers while she was away.

There was no answer. Just a heavy breathing on the other end.

"Hello?"

A thick heavy Russian voice answered, "Is this Dominica Belikov?"

"Da?" I answered questioningly.

More heavy breathing.

"Who is this?" I said strongly.

The call ended.

That was weird. I shoved my cell back into my bag. It was a day for lateness as I practically ran to my next class. I ran pass coach Hale on my way, "Hey slow down Belikov, Save it for the track," she yelled after me.

Ben met me after Biology waiting just outside the door of the classroom. He grabbed me again this time around my waist. I was still spacey, the earlier phone call niggling at my mind. I was worried yet at the same time confused. Not many people had my cell number and if they were calling me, they'd know it was me, right? They wouldn't have to ask.

"What's wrong," Ben had asked as he guided me to the cafeteria with his arm still around my waist. We lined up.

"It's nothing," I frowned. Staring straight ahead.

"Did I do something wro….." he begun.

But I cut him off. "No, its not you. Its just after English I got this weird call." I spaced out again.

Ben's arm tightened around me. He kissed the top of my forehead.

When we sat down for lunch I was still thinking about the call. But I tried to push it to the back of my mind.

"So, hows you mum?" Ben asked.

I frowned. "She's not home yet." That also worried me a little. She was never one to be late anywhere.

"Oh, I though you said she was supposed to be home yesterday."

"Well, she's not." I said quickly.

Ben must have understood my tone and didn't bring it up again. After school he met me in the car park by my car.

He kissed me softly, making my lips tingle.

"Do you want me to come over after you've finished your training?"

I grimaced, pulling back from him. "I still don't think this is a good idea, Ben." I said looking to the ground.

And I didn't. I just knew the second my mother was back from where ever the hell she had been, she'd already be planning our next steps. It frustrated me to no extent that she had never once included me in her plans. She had never once asked me where I wanted to go next or even if I wanted to stay. Though I never argued with her I never really did want to leave the places where we stayed.

The look on Ben's face burned into my memory. He looked pained as if I had just ripped his heart out or something. I didn't understand. I hadn't know him that long. Just over two weeks. How could someone get so attached and emotional in such a short time span.

I knew I had done it again. I'd pushed him away. God, get a grip. Why do you keep doing this. Just break it off Demi! It will be better in the long run. You probably shouldn't even be friends. You should just follow your mother example and keep everyone at an arms length. Then you cant hurt people. And they cant hurt you.

Ben left without so much as a goodbye. I didn't blame him, though. My social skills suck. Maybe I should just quit high school all together and go back to home schooling. There's a thought.

I drove home, slowly. The wind had picked up again pushing my car all over the place, and my head ache was back again this time with a vengeance.

Mum still wasn't home when I got there. I tried her cell phone a few times before I did my workout. I was really sluggish and didn't even get my heart rate up that much.

I skipped dinner opting for some of the red stuff and some more Tylenol. My shower took a lot longer then normal. I stood still, just letting the water run off my back and relax my tightly bound muscles. I towelled off and slipped into my favourite pyjamas. The blue boy legs and a white singlet top with a darker blue butterfly design.

As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out like a light. My dreams vague and distorted. I dreamt of my mother, that she was yelling at me fiercely but no words came out of her mouth and I was following her as she ran from me.

But my dreams were interrupted by voices that didn't belong. A harsh, thickly accented voice not unlike the one from the phone call earlier in the day asking, "Do you think that's her?"

Followed by another, still accented but more feminine one, "Just take a look at her, spitting image."

I froze.

These were real. These were here. In my room. Beside me.

The voices pulled me out of my slumber. I shot up from my bed jumping across the room eyeing the two figures that stood over my bed where I had just laid.

The woman smiled showing a full set of teeth including a pair of sharp fangs. "Perceptive." She purred.

Instantly, I kicked into battle mode. All the frustration from this afternoon was replaced with a kind of rage. What the hell? I knew exactly what they were. Only I didn't understand why they where here? Then it hit me, like the proverbial ton of bricks. The phone call. The whispers. My dream.

They had her. They had my mother.

I immediately or more instinctively I searched the room for some kind of weapon. I knew where my mother kept her collection of weapons. In her room, in a trunk. Locked and sealed. I had to make do. Think Demi, think. Three things to kill a Strigoi. Stake. I didn't have one. Decapitation. With what? Fire. Fire. Now I could do that. But. No. I thought back to the times where I was actually able to do it. How the hell do I make it work? I had always been in mortal peril. The red tinged vision. My fear.

Only this time it wasn't kicking in. Maybe it was the fact that they weren't exactly doing anything. They both just stared at me. Gauging my reactions? I don't know. I shifted my weight. Both sets of eyes followed my movement. They didn't move. Huh?

They were waiting. For what though? For me to get a weapon. To make a move. No. That wasn't it. Then I heard it. There was someone else here too. Another male entered the room. He was very tall, almost having to duck through door. And young, too. Maybe mid twenties with shoulder length brown hair, tied back in a short ponytail. His iris' rimmed with red.

Strigoi.

He waved his hand through the air. The other two, the man and woman nodded falling behind where he stood.

Three Strigoi. And they were all blocking my escape. Crap! Crap, crap, crap. My hands tightened into first.

The long haired one, his lips pressed into a smile. "So its true, then. A daughter. Look at that face," he said turning to the other two, "just like her mother. If looks could kill." He laughed menacingly.

He stopped abruptly. "Leave!" he said fiercely, never taking his eyes from me. The other two scuttled out of the room. He was still eyeing me as he took a step forward. I stepped back almost in sync with him. My back hitting the wall. He kept coming. His hands held out in what was supposed to be some sort of calming gesture, "I'm not going to hurt you, Dominica." He paused, "Much."

He launched himself towards me. I ducked, barely manoeuvring out of his way in time. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty." He smirked. My eyes grew wide. His move had put me closer to the door. I glanced at the door. But the other two were out there.

He saw my distraction, launching himself at me again. This time pinning me against the opposite wall. He held me, one hand on my neck not crushing, but tight none the less and the other around my left wrist pulling the skin tighter then it already was.

He spoke softly, "They tell me you can do things." I wished I could. I wished I could control it. Call it up at a whim. Burn him! Burn this monster.

Fear churned through me, my heart rate accelerated.

He leaned in, his teeth inches from my face. My neck. He whispered, "You'll make a fine Strigoi."

That did it. Anger replace my fear. Adrenalin pulsed through my veins. My vision turned red and that tingling, burning feeling I had hoped for spread though my fingertips.

The flames leapt from my hands causing him to let me go. But not before he backhanded me. Smashing into my face. It broke my concentration. And probably my jaw. It hurt like nothing I felt before. Blood trickled down my lips dripping from my chin. I staggered and so had he. The flames had caught and set his clothes alight.

He was still too close. I pushed him with all my strength and threw myself at the door. I couldn't see the other two. They must be down stairs. I headed to my mothers room. To that trunk. The one filled with the weapons I needed. I hadn't trained with many weapons before. But I knew the principles.

I fell to the floor in front of the trunk. Pulling at the lock. Der! That wasn't going to do it!! Stupid! I kicked at it. Once. Twice. And the third time it broke. I didn't have much time. I grabbed what I could. A long curved sword. A stake.

Oh shit!

I slammed into the floor. It was the woman. She pinned me to the floor. I kicked. As hard as I could. She flinched. Distracted. I reached for the sword. It was inches from my fingertips. She still had me pinned. I willed myself to reach. Stretching.

Then it was if my fingers had turned to magnets. The long sword was in my hand.

Snarling with rage, she gripped my upper arms clenching them with ferocity. I managed to get the sword in long ways between us as she still had hold of me. Holding it as if I meant to slit her throat with it. White fangs flashed in her mouth, snapping way too close to my face.

I remembered fighting with my mother, how I had mostly been on the defensive the whole time. That wouldn't work this time. I had to attack. I pushed the sword upwards with as much strength as I could muster.

She glanced back hearing something I didn't. This was it. I kicked out again. Sweeping her footing from beneath her. I pushed up again. It worked. I fell on top of her now pinning her down. I mustered all my strength, drew back, and swung. The sword's blade hit the side of her neck, hard and deep. It was sharp. Digging in a long way. She gave a horrible, sickening cry, a shriek that made my skin crawl. She tried to move from beneath me. I pulled back and hit her again. Her hands clutched her throat. I just kept swinging.

But then I realised what she had been glancing at. He hit me with a sickening force. Knocking me back across the room. The other male, the one who had left the room. I was still clutching the sword. I landed badly. The blade slicing into my side. I yelped out a cry. My hands dropping the sword and immediately clutching my right side where a long gaping wound now bled.

Oh god! Oh god, oh god. This was it. He was on top of me. His eyes boring into me.

I didn't want to die. Or be turned for that matter. I had to do it again. I had to focus. My side burned as it bled. No. Not that. The Fire. I needed the Fire. Concentrate. He bit me. His teeth sinking into my neck so deep it felt like they scraped the bones in my neck. It burned. Oh god! My hands reached for him. Trying to push him away. Raking my fingernails over his face. They could have been feathers for all the impact they had on his skin. My instinctive resistance was pitifully feeble against his strength. I had a feeling that I was going to pass out and something in me welcomed that thought. It would make the pain go away. Glittering black spots began to dance across my field of vision. They grew bigger and bigger and soon I could barely see anything.

No. I couldn't pass out. I couldn't.

That did it, again. I couldn't die. I refused to be turned into a evil monster. Adrenalin pulsed through my veins. My vision turned red and that tingling, burning feeling spread though my fingertips for a second time.

He screeched as thick flames covered his body, completely obscuring my view of his features. He was just a man shaped bonfire. I heard a few strangled screams before he took off out of the room blazing a trail behind him. Small flaming shards falling from his body as he ran.

I swear to god I hoped that there weren't any more. I was screwed if there was. My body ached. It screamed. It bled.

Things around me now started catching alight. Smoke filled the room and I coughed and spluttered. I had to get out. Flames licked up the walls. I staggered to my feet holding my hands to my bleeding neck. Stepping over the decapitated body of the Strigoi woman I stumbled out through the door. The flames had taken hold of the entire top level of the house. I almost tumbled down the stairs but I gripped the shaky banister. Oh god. I clutched my side as another wave of pain filled me.

The man lay in a blazing heap at the bottom of the stairs. I skirted around him heading for the front door.

No! Two more figures appeared in front of me. Tall, muscly and almost certainly human. For their eyes did not have that glowing red ring around them.

I couldn't fight them. Even if they were only humans, I was too weak. Both my neck and my side still gushed with blood and the black spots were still hanging around the edges of my eyes.

I staggered. Turning away from them. As I did a large crashing sound ripped through the air. The whole ceiling was giving way. I fell backwards tripping over my own feet. Dust and smoke swirled around me. Half of the ceiling had fallen in almost exactly where the two men were standing. The bodies no longer visible.

I didn't have time to feel relived. The house was burning around me. I had to get out. I had to get out, now! I kept repeating it over and over in my head.

The ceiling collapsing had cut off my escape through the front of the house. It was dark so I grouped along the wall till I found the kitchen. The fire hadn't reached here yet but it was only a matter of moments. It was hot, really hot. And the smoke was so thick. I dropped to the floor and crawled along. My vision gave out on me, again. The blackness engulfing me. I leaned up against something cold, maybe the fridge. I fought it back, as well as I could.

I had just killed three Strigoi and watched the two humans that were helping them die. I was not going to die! I was not going to burn! Get up Demi! I screamed in my head.

I closed my eyes trying to blink back the darkness. When I opened them again, I was surrounded by a red glow. The kitchen had finally caught on fire.

I clawed my way along the floor of the kitchen towards where I thought the back door was.

I hit the wall. No, it was the back door. I reached up grouping for the handle to open the door. It was so hot that it burned when I turned it but I didn't let go until it was open all the way. I felt a fresh breeze blowing in.

I rolled out onto my side. Only feet from the back door. I was out.

I lay in a foetal position, clutching my side and neck, watching the flames burn. Slowly letting the blackness claim me.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: I do not own VA or Twilight or any other book/TVshows/movies that I may or may not have referenced in this piece. **

**Chapter 6. Following instructions**

I was moving. Or someone was moving me. I was aware of something being on my face, covering my mouth. I reached up, without opening my eyes, to pull it off.

"No you don't." Said a stern voice as my hand was brushed away.

I tried to open my eyes. There were people everywhere. I could see a faint glow of red in the distance.

"Chief?" Called the same voice, "she's awake."

A man came over to where I lay. I was strapped to a gurney next to an ambulance some distance away from the house. The lights were flashing as were, it seemed, a million others.

He was older, maybe forty odd. He had a hand held walkie-talkie that he was talking into. He stepped closer to me, grabbing my hand with his free one.

"Dominica?" His voice was concerned.

I tried to focus on his face. Pain racked my body. My eyes were fluttering. "Mmm?" was all I could manage.

"Dominica? Who else was in the house?" His voice was hard.

Who else was in the house? Who else? "NO!" I screeched.

"Who else? How many?" He was almost shaking me.

"They… they… wanted to hurt me," I stuttered, "they tried to kill me!" My eyes grew wide. I reached to take the oxygen mask off again pushing the paramedic's hands away as he struggled with me to get it back on.

Hysteria took over. I was shouting, "They tried to kill me. They tried to kill me. They've got my mother. They have her. Oh my god!"

I was suddenly aware of a new pain. A sharp prick in the top of my left arm.

I slumped back onto the gurney.

"How many, Dominica?" his voice was now calmer.

A wave of serenity washed over me. Like a sleepiness. "Five, maybe more. But they're dead." I all but whispered.

He was off. Shouting into his walkie-talkie again. The pain had ebbed away but was replaced with a heavy feeling pushing down on my chest. The paramedic pressed the oxygen mask back on. I was vaguely aware of someone else coming up beside me. She looked anxious. My ears rang.

"I'm one of her teachers. Is she okey?" her voice was soft.

Coach Hale. I had to tell her. They couldn't go into the house. What if they were still alive, more people would get hurt. My eyes grew wide again. I tried to sit back up but the heavy feeling wasn't going away. It was getting worse.

"Coach?" I croaked.

She looked down at me, placing her hand on my forehead. "Coach?" I croaked again.

"Its going to be okey," she said soothingly. Then a worried look passed across her face. "Honey? Was your mum in there? Was she in the house, too?"

I blinked my eyes. They were getting heavy. "Nooo…." my voice trailed out. "They have her." I whispered.

"Who?" she asked, her worry growing.

"The Strigoi."

The last look on her face as my mind blanked into darkness was one of absolute fear.

My eyes opened to a bright, white light. I was in an unfamiliar room, a white room. The wall beside me was covered in long vertical blinds; over my head, the glaring lights blinded me. I was propped on a hard, uneven bed - a bed with rails. The pillows were flat and lumpy and there was an annoying beeping sound somewhere close by.

My hands were all twisted up with clear tubes and something was taped across my face under my nose. I lifted my hand to rip it off. I tried to sit up but the spinning in my head accelerated and I fell back to down to the pillows.

The heavy feeling was still present but it wasn't as prevalent as it had been. The room was empty and I was drugged enough just to stare at the walls for a while. There was a large round clock on the wall that ticked away loudly. I watched the seconds hand slowly twitch around the face.

I sighed in frustration. I hated just sitting here. Strigoi had my mother. I had to help her, somehow. Ouch! Pain shot through my side as I tried to swing my legs over the side of the bed. I tried to sit up again. But the heavy feeling just weighed me down.

I laid there a while longer before trying again. This time I managed to get myself into a sitting position with my legs dangling over the edge. My side ached as did my neck and face. I pulled up the hospital gown to examine the long wound along my side. It was tapped fairly tightly and I was wrapped all the way around my middle with a thick bandage. I touched my side, wincing as the pain rippled though.

My thighs, my legs, my arms; they were covered with purple and green bruises, some in the shape of large hand marks where I had been grabbed. I knew they were going to be there for awhile. I touched my cheek. It was swollen, too. Maybe broken.

I hated that my body was so frail. I wish I could just heal myself. Ouch! My feet touched the cold hard floor as I pulled one of the wires off me. It must have been a heart rate monitor or something because one of the machines that was beside me started going crazy. Shoot!

I fumbled to get it back on but I dropped it. Crap!

"You shouldn't be up!" A voice rang out behind me. I turned quickly to the direction of the voice instantly wishing I hadn't as the pain shot through my neck. She was immediately at my side pushing me back towards the bed. I groaned and she must have taken it for pain. She promptly pulled out a syringe from her pocket and injected me through the drip in my arm.

"You have a visitor, if your up for it. Do you want me to send him in?" She said.

Him? Maybe it was Ben. Nah, that was wishful thinking. He probably wasn't talking to me still. I nodded to the nurse. She left but a man came in a few minutes later. I recognised him as the one who had asked me questions when I was strapped to the gurney. His name badge said Chief Hawk.

"Hi there," he said, "how you feeling?" He had a small pencil and pad in his hands ready to write.

"I'm fine," I lied. I was lying in a hospital bed with bruises and tubes and he had to ask me such a stupid question.

He frowned at my obvious lie. "I want to ask you a few questions. If your up to it, of corse."

I seriously though about faking some sort of panic attack or pain induced sleep so I wouldn't have to answer his questions. But he didn't even wait for me to answer.

"Where is your mother at this point in time?"

I had no idea. I had only speculated that she had been taken. For all I knew she was sitting in some boring lecture somewhere. I didn't even know what date it was. Or how long I had been in the hospital. So I answered as truthfully as I could.

"I don't know."

"So she wasn't in the house, then?" He shot straight back.

"No."

"Who are the Strigoi?" He asked as he scribbled something down on his pad.

"What?" I answered in disbelief. How the hell did he know about them. If he knew their name he sure as hell know what they were capable of.

"The paramedic heard you say to one of your teachers that they had your mother. What are they? Some sort of Russian Mafia? Don't lie, Dominica, we just want to help you. We cant, if you don't give us all the information." He was glaring at me now.

I couldn't speak. "I…I…"

Oh god. Time to come up with something. I don't know. Feint amnesia or something. Anything. Arg! My heart rate was picking up and I could feel my palms sweating. I couldn't think. My head started to pound.

Saved by the nurse. She came back in and examined one of the machines. "Chief?" she said ignoring my uncomfortableness. "Your going to have to leave if you keep stressing the poor girl out. She's been through enough without having to be harassed by you too." She said in a strict tone.

"I'm just doing my job, Frances." He replied in a less serious voice.

"You can tell him to go away, dear." She smiled at me and winked at him.

I just smiled weakly back at her.

"I don't remember, sir." I said unconvincingly. I knew straight away that he didn't buy it.

"Demi!" a voice shouted. It was Ben. Thank god. Another distraction. He threw himself at me. Hugging me roughly. I winced and he noticed straight away. "Sorry," he smiled sheepishly.

"Coach Hale said you were in the hospital right before she left," He said ignoring the Chief, "What the hell happened. You look terrible."

"I don't know, I don't really remember. There were people in the house and they wanted to hurt me. And then the house was on fire." I edited for Ben's sake as well as the police Chiefs. Ben would buy it but I didn't think the chief would.

"Oh, Dominica," He sighed, hugging me again but more softly this time.

The Chief spoke quietly, "We'll continue this later Dominica." and then he left the room.

Ben held my unbandage hand with both of his. "I'm sorry about your house. There's not much left of it." He said.

I just looked away. The house was the least of my worries, now. I had to help my mother. Wherever she was.

Then it hit me. That new number. The one mum had added before she left. Maybe who ever was at the other end of that number could help her. I looked back to Ben. He was rubbing my palm with his fingers.

"Ben?" I asked tentatively. "I need to get in contact with my mother. She left me some numbers so that I could call her. But they're at the house. On the fridge."

He nodded his head. "Demi, like I said," He paused, "there isn't much left of your house. Dad and I went past it."

I looked into his eyes pleadingly. "Please Ben?"

He looked back staring deeply back into mine. "I'll see what I can do, okey? But not right now, later." He lent in and kissed the top of my head. It felt nice. Obviously he had forgiven me for what I had said earlier.

I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the sensation of his hands in mine.

He came through for me. The next afternoon. He pulled out a soggy soiled piece of paper that I recognised instantly. Most of the numbers where unreadable except a few and thankfully the one I needed was there. I stuffed it into the draw next to the bed so I could call when I was alone.

I really needed to get in contact with someone that could help me. I had already endured a visit from Social Services this morning. I didn't know what to do.

I was feeling a little better and had schooched over so that Ben could lay on the bed next to me. I had my head on his shoulder with my eyes closed while he surfed through the TV when the doctor came in.

"Good news!" He said overly cheerful.

I opened my eyes to this and Ben put the remote down.

"We're releasing you tomorrow." He said. And then added as an afterthought, "to Social Services."

"What?!" I flew forward instantly grabbing my side as pain pulsed through it.

It was Ben who came though yet again. "She's staying with my family until her mum gets back." He said nonchalantly as if it had already been decided. I was so going to have to start calling him my Knight in shiny armour.

__________________________________________________________________________________

"Mum's set you up in the Den, on the fold out." Ben said breaking the silence on the drive back to his house.

I looked at him with gratitude. "Thank you so much, you don't know how much I appreciate this and everything." I grabbed his free hand that was resting on the gear shift.

He smiled a goofy grin and said, "Its nothing. You'd do the same."

But I didn't know if I would. After all, I thought I'd hurt him too much for him to still be hanging around. But I was grateful and owed him so much for taking care of me. How could I deny him? And I did have feelings for him. Though, not as strong as he seemed to have. I couldn't think about it. I had other things on my mind. My mother. The torn piece of paper stashed in my pocket containing an unknown number that I had still yet to call.

Clouds were rolling in bringing with it deep rumbling thunder and an ache in my head.

It was the weekend and Ben spent most of it by my side. Never letting me do anything for myself or have any alone time. He was sweet about it. Letting me sleep a lot. Sometimes I faked it to see if he would leave. But he never did. I was growing frustrated, I hate being idle. Sitting around doing nothing and that's all I seemed to be doing.

Monday, a week after my mother was supposed to come home, finally came around and Ben had to go back to school. He and his mother had a small argument about it. Ben saying that he needed to stay home to take care of me. Of corse I rolled my eyes at this. I was practically up and around. I was sort of glad that he had to go. It would give me a chance to ring that number.

As soon as he was gone I asked Mrs Browder if I could use the phone. It rang for a while before someone picked up.

"Seattle International Currency Exchange, Collections Department. Can I start with your Name, please?" The woman on the other end asked.

What?! A bank? I was confused. How could a bank help me find my mother? I decided to play along.

"Dominica Janine Belikov."

"Thank you Miss Belikov." She replied. I could hear the keys of a computer tapping away. She must have been accessing my information.

"Your Date of Birth, please." She asked again.

I gave it to her.

"And finally your Mothers Maiden name, please."

I gave that to her, too.

I was seriously confused. Why would they need this kind of information? It was when she spoke again that it finally clicked.

"And when are you wanting to collect the contents of the Safety Deposit box?"

So that was it. These guys were just holding something for me that would help me find my mother. Maybe an address of where she was going. Or something.

I was aware of a tapping through the phone. This chick was obviously getting impatient.

"Is tomorrow good?" I asked tentatively.

"Yes, I'll have an account manager waiting for you."

"Thank you." I said, quickly asking, "What's your address?"

I wrote it down hastily on the back of the scrap of paper before hanging up.

It was fortunate that Mrs. Browder and Cassie had some sort of Mummy and Me class in Seattle the next day. She dropped me at the front the Seattle International Currency Exchange building. I walked inside taking in its grandness. It had hugely high ceilings and every imaginable surface was panelled with wood and bronze fixtures.

I made my way to the centre of the main lobby where a large round desk, manned by several well dress women, sat. I asked for directions but before I could go, a man in a dark blue double breasted suit approached me.

"Miss Belikov?" He asked. He obviously knew me but I had no idea who he was. "I'm Mr Blatta."

I had to hold in my giggles when he said he name. It reminded me of my Italian lessons. He certainly did resemble one. Focus, Demi! Remember why you're here.

He held out his hand and I reluctantly shook it. His grip was strong and it jostled my already bruised body.

"I'm your mothers account manager. Mrs. Lillie said that you would be by today to pick up the contents of your mothers safety deposit box."

I smiled, "Yes, that's correct. But I don't have too much time." I looked at my watch. I only had about an hour before I was supposed to meet Mrs Browder and Cassie back out the front and I had no idea how long this would take.

"That's fine," he replied. "All you have to do is sign some paperwork and we'll sort the rest out."

He gestured for me to follow him. And like he told me it didn't take long. As soon as I had finished signing, he took me to a small room. The walls were lined with various sized metal draws and in the centre of the room was a metal table.

He retrieved a set of keys from his pocket and opened one of the larger ones on the bottom row. He pulled it out and placed it on the table without opening it.

"If you need anything, just let me know." He said as he walked towards the door.

"Um," I said. Something had been bothering me.

"Yes?" He asked questioningly.

"How did you know it was me." I paused, "In the lobby I mean?"

"Because, Dominica, you're the spitting image of your mother." He smiled warmly and left the room.

He had left the key in the box. I twisted it and the lid swung open with very little effort.

Inside was a collection of different things. The first thing I pulled out was a very ornately carved wooden box. It was covered in a swirly leaf pattern and had quite an old looking lock on it. I place it on the table. The next one I pulled out was familiar. It was the same one I had unwrapped only a few weeks earlier. I pulled this one out too, knowing exactly what was in it.

I removed the lid and, just like I had thought, inside were two glittering silver Stylus'. I pulled both of them out and tucked them into the back of my borrowed jeans behind my coat. It felt somewhat comforting to have them there. Their cold metal pressing up against my back. I was never letting these out of my sight again. Even if I didn't know how to use them properly.

Underneath where the boxes had laid, were two letters. One addressed to me and the other addressed to a 'Lissa Dragomir'. It had to be the same Lissa the she had briefly spoken about in the past. The one who had practically been her sister.

They were both seeled with a big red dab of wax that had an impression of a Rose in it. Nice mum. So much for you hating anything rose.

I ripped mine open. Out fell the Nazar pendent that my mother occasionally made me wear. I hastily read the letter.

_Dominica, _

_If you are reading this, something has happened. Or nothing has happened and your just freaking out. Calm down! _

_If this is an event where something HAS happened then there are three things I want you to do. Firstly, I want you to put the pendent on right now! _

I stopped and fastened the chain and pendent around my neck careful not to touch the gauze covered bite mark.

_Secondly, on the back of this page is an address of an old friend of mine. Go there and give her the other letter and that carved box. She will know exactly what needs to be done. You can trust her. But no one else. Remember, if they know then they will be just as bad as the others have been, your safety is priority. Okey? _

_And finally, take a deep breath and calm down. You cant draw unwanted attention to yourself. _

_You know I love you _

_Be Safe. _

That was it. Nothing about where she went. Nothing about how I could help her. Nothing.

I felt like screwing the letter up and chucking it away. Grr! She could be so cryptic and frustrating. I stuffed both the letters into my pocket and picked up the box it was about the size of a Kleenex box. A little heavy but I could easily manage its weight. I shook it, trying to guess what was in it. It didn't really make any sound.

I looked at my watch again. I was going to be late.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: I do not own VA or Twilight or any other book/TVshows/movies that I may or may not have referenced in this piece. **

**Chapter 7. Distractions**

We spent a few more hours in Seattle, mostly just Mrs Browder running around doing errands.

The whole ride home I was silent. Cassie and Mrs Browder were content singing along with a CD of nursery rhymes. I cradled the box on my lap not letting it out of my sight.

When we arrived back at their house, I was surprised to see Ben standing next to my red Bug. He had that goofy smile on his face as well as a few dirty smudges.

"Hey," He said as approached him.

"I thought that everything was gone." I said in disbelief.

"Well, not everything." His smile grew wider, if that was even possible. "We even managed to find a few clothes that hadn't been too badly singed."

He moved closer to me, gently grabbing me around the waist and pulling me into a hug. He leaned in and whispered into my ear. "We even found some of your underwear." He laughed.

Pushed him away. Gah! Boys.

I looked in the back of the Bug. There were a few bits and pieces but my heart jumped when I spotted the long tan coat that my mother had got me for my birthday slung over the back of the passenger seat. I was glad. I loved that thing.

He grabbed the box from me before I could protest and picked up my hand in his free one, pulling me inside.

"Come on you can go through that stuff tomorrow."

__________________________________________________________________________________

That night, after dinner - and after I had carefully stashed the items from the safety deposit box in the glove compartment of my car - Mrs Browder said she wanted to check out my wounds. I didn't object because Ben had told me that before Cassie was born she had been a nurse.

We were in the den slash my temporary bedroom and I was lying on the pull out bed, holding my rolled up shirt just above the wound, while she was examining it.

"Dominica, I think this one is getting infected." She pointed to my side, "See how it's still oozing and red?"

Gah! I looked. But I really shouldn't have. The angry red wound was disgusting and pussy and not to mention swollen making me look fat. It made me want to kinda vomit.

"Have you been taking the antibiotics?" She looked at me sceptically.

I just nodded.

"Well," she said annoyed, "I'm taking you back to the hospital tomorrow, okey?" She eyed me till I answered.

"Yes, ma'am." I answered with a small smile.

"Come on lets go watch TV. Idol will be starting soon." She ruffled my hair and pulled me into a sitting position.

"If its okey, I think I'll just go to bed. I'm pretty tired." And I was tired and I had a head ache. Well I kinda had one ever since the fire that just seemed to be getting worse. It was like a pressure that was ever increasing. Maybe I was just worried about mum.

Mrs. Browder gave me a sympathetic look. "All right, dear." She said as she left the room.

I carefully changed into more borrowed clothes. A white singlet top and matching pink boy leg bottoms. I hated pink but who could be fussy when you had nothing.

The gash in my side hurt the most out of all my injuries. Well, that and the head ache. The bite mark on my neck had almost healed fully, just two feint red crescents where his top and bottom teeth sunk in. I didn't even need to have it covered, anymore. And then there were the bruises that covered me practically from head to toe. You could just make out hand prints in the different colours. Blue, brown, black, purple. Some had started to fade into a yellowy green colour.

I laid back down and closed my eyes.

In the dream - and I knew perfectly well that it was a dream - I stood on a beach. It took me a moment to recognise just which beach it was. It was the same every time. It was along the Oregon coast - sandy and warm, with the Pacific unfolding in the distance. Mum and I had travelled out here once when we lived in Portland. It had been a beautiful day and I wished I could have stayed longer.

He was the same as always. Standing, no leaning up against as palm, lazily. He brought a cigarette up to his mouth, took a long drag, the stamped the butt into the sand.

"Oh come on! Cant you go bug someone else?" I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.

He just stared at me, same as always, without saying a thing. A smile playing on his lips.

I stomped off towards the waters edge plonking a few feet away. The water and sky shimmered out of focus and I woke.

It was Ben.

I glanced at the clock on the far wall. It wasn't late, just after 11pm, but the house was silent. I rolled over as he sat on the edge of the bed. He shushed me, holding his finger to my lips. His eyes were smouldering.

He laid down beside me and pulled me closer. We were both on our sides and he held me from behind wrapping his arms around my waist carefully. It felt nice. Safe. I intertwined my hands with his and he kissed my bare shoulder.

His breath was warm against my neck. He whispered, "Go back to sleep, _mia amore_"

I smiled. I felt warm draped in his arms.

I fell asleep almost immediately again. But this time I dreamt of my mother. It was vague and distorted, she was yelling at me intensely but no words came out. She was tugging me along, away from something. And then she disappeared and I was standing all alone in place made up of whiteness. Everything was white including me and it was cold. Like someone had taken the warmth I had felt from Ben's arms and replaced them with frozen icicles.

It was this sensation that woke me. But it lingered. As if my dream had leaked out and surrounded me. Ben's arms, were indeed, still wrapped around my waist. But they were freezing. I tried to move but his body was half crushing me. He wasn't moving. I tried twice, unsuccessfully to heave his unmoving body from me. The third time shoving him fiercely away from me.

No. NO! I tried shaking him to wake him but his cold form just lie beside me. It was still dark and I could barely see. Wake up! Please, wake up, Ben!

I choked back a scream. My hands flying to my mouth. They were covered in a wetness I couldn't place. I flung myself forward ignoring the screaming pain emanating from my side. I wobbled backwards, away from the bed crashing into the desk against the wall.

I staggered over to the door where the light switch was. I flipped it. Nothing. I flipped it in the other direction. Still nothing.

A stumbled out the door and felt my way along the hallway wall till I got to the end door. Ben's parents room. I didn't need to go in there. The moonlight filtering though the open window shone just enough light on the door to see that it was smeared with dark red streaks.

Blood.

My stomach lurched.

I held my hands up. They, too, were covered in blood.

I fell to my knees. Heaving heavily. The contents of my stomach emptying on the floor.

I sat there for a long time. Just trying to process what had happened. It hit me. Oh my god. Cassie. I launched myself to my feet.

Through the beginnings of the mornings grey light I saw her tiny body on the floor of her room. It brought back terrible memories of what I had witnessed as a child. Her head twisted in an unnatural position off to the side. Her eyes staring blankly. Blood.

My heart was pounding. No, no! It wasn't possible. A scream started to rise in my throat, but nothing came out except a gurgle.

They had been here. In this house. They had killed Ben, his parents and his little sister. Oh god. They had killed Ben right beside me. While I slept. While his arms were wrapped around me. While his lips were pressed to my shoulder.

A sob escaped my mouth. I collapsed on all fours, wanting to cry but not able to.

Then I heard something crashing down outside. I turned in the direction I had come from. I hadn't thought that who ever had done this could still possibly be here. I heaved myself off the floor. My mind raced. I needed to protect myself. I needed to get out of here. If they were still here. Maybe they were saving me for last. I don't know. My mind spun. The head ache I had earlier raged in my skull.

Instinct fluttered through me. I couldn't stay here. I couldn't save anyone. They were all dead. I could only save myself. But where? Where could I go?

The answer was anywhere. Anywhere but here. They, whoever they were, knew I was here. I had to get far away.

I was out the door and to my car in minutes, not once looking behind me. Rain was now falling from the sky. Heavy and hard. Soaking me right though. It was cold but my skin burned. My side ached. And my head pounded.

I grabbed my coat from the back of the passenger seat of my car throwing it over my shoulders and not bothering to fasten the buttons. I was drenched with both the morning downpour and the congealed blood. I shuddered. Thinking over and over again _Daylight, its daylight. They cant get you in the daylight_

Who was I kidding.

I had no idea.

__________________________________________________________________________________

I sped down the highway, just keen to put distance between myself and that…that. I couldn't even think about what I had just left behind. My hands trembled as they clenched the steering wheel.

After about an hour of unthinking and of driving like a maniac. I knew I had to stop. For one, I needed gas and two I had no idea where I was. I needed a plan.

I pulled into a gas station just off the highway. I fumbled around in the glove compartment looking for some cash I knew I had stashed in there, pulling the carved wooden box out first. That gave me an idea. The letter said that I should go there for help. To talk to this Lissa person. That she know what to do. Pennsylvania. It wasn't far. Maybe a couple days drive if I didn't stop.

My hands came upon a cold hard object. My Stylus'. I pulled the both out and shoved them in the back of my boy legs. I was still in my pyjamas. I pulled my coat tightly around myself buttoning it all the way down. My side ached and it was bleeding again. I knew the dressing needed changing.

I went to the bathroom first. Hoping the clerk didn't see my bare feet or bloodied hands. I stood over the sink taking in the reflection in the mirror. I looked horrible. I scrubbed my hands with what little soap they had and then just letting the water run over them until it ran clear. I brushed my fingers though my hair, catching knot after knot. In the end I just left it and shoved my hair up in a messy bun. Half of it falling out anyway.

I went into the convenience part of the gas station sourcing what supplies and maps I could and I filled the car to brimming point with gas. I didn't want to have to stop.

They found me twice in less then a week. They could find me anywhere. I couldn't stay in one place for too long.

__________________________________________________________________________________

I drove. Not stopping unless I needed gas or to pee. I didn't have enough money to buy food, so I didn't. I wasn't hungry anyway. Not after what I saw. I don't think I'd ever be hungry again.

By the time I made it to Pittsburgh, my head ache had dulled to a thrumming in the back of my head. I had been up for three days straight. I was exhausted, but close to my destination. I had no idea what I'd find when I rocked up to this place. And by the looks of the address it was a middle of nowhere type of place.

For all I knew the area would be swarming with Guardians or Strigoi even. I couldn't just go up to the front door unannounced and say 'Hey I'm Demi. I'm here to see some random chicky that I don't actually know. That is supposed to live here'. How dumb was that. I suppose I really didn't have a choice.

I recited my mothers letter over in my head.

You can trust her. But no one else. Remember, if they know then they will be just as bad.

_Just as bad._

I shuddered. I felt like my mother was throwing me to the wolves. I had always wondered about the world she had left behind. Always wished that somehow she would take me back there. But not like this.

She had run for a reason. She had stayed hidden for a reason. Reasons I could never fathom. But reasons nonetheless.

_You can trust her. But no one else_

You can trust her. She had once told me that she was connected with this Lissa like a sister. That they had a bond. An unbreakable bond.

But that changed. She said she had other priorities. Again I didn't understand. Only because she would start to tell me then stop. As if it was too painful for her to continue. I just left it. I never really understood.

I turned off the highway and through a series of streets. I was right on my first assumption that this place was in fact in the middle of nowhere. It was afternoon but rain made it hard to see anything. It was pouring down in sheets. Washing away any traces of snow that had laid on the ground previously. I hated the rain. Cursing it all the way here. It was like it followed me all the way from Port Angeles.

I could barely make out a large ominous wrought iron and stone fence parallel to the laneway I was driving along. It was over eight foot hight and lined with huge leafless trees that obscured the view to the other side of the fence. I pulled over to the shoulder to check the map. I knew I was close.

I pulled the only pair of shoes I had in the car on to my feet. They were tan knee high boots. It hurt like hell bending my knees up to try to get them on. My side ached so bad that it felt hard to breath. I hadn't checked the wound since yesterday and even then it was worse. Red and sticky with puss.

I pushed the ache to the back of my mind.

I had more important things to think about.

I got out of the car. Pulling the hood of my coat over my head. As if that would keep the rain out. I followed the fence line for a short while as it curved away from the main road along another even smaller road.

In the distance, thought the torrent of rain, I spied a small house like structure. No, it was more like a large booth. Like at a toll. With a huge boom gate across the road just in front of another huge wrought iron gate. I couldn't see anyone inside, but then again I could barely make it out in the distance.

Maybe that was the place I was looking for or at the very least they could point me in the right direction. It was getting dark as night set in. I made my way up to the toll booth place. I couldn't see anyone around but I did hear voices coming from inside. I knocked hesitantly.

All the voices from inside stopped.

My heart rate sped up for some reason. It was as if my body anticipated an attack. As if it wasn't already raining enough the heavens opened up even more releasing a torrential downpour. I stepped under the eave of the building to try to shield myself from the rain but a wind had also picked up sending sprays of water in every which direction.

A young guy peered around the opened door. Maybe 25 years old. His spiky brown hair that made him look younger then he probably was. He kind of reminded me of Ben. Or what Ben would have looked like if he had the chance to grow into a man.

"Where did you come from?" He asked with a puzzled look on his face.

I jerked my head in the direction of my car, "Down there." I said.

He had obviously missed my approach. It wasn't like I was even trying to sneak up on him.

He scowled. "What do you want?" He said harshly.

I frowned back at him. "I'm sort of lost."

He rolled his eyes.

Another man appeared behind him looking at me disapprovingly.

I pulled out my mothers letter and held it up to him, "Can you tell me if I'm even close to this address."

He tried to snatch the letter from my hand but I pulled it back just as fast as he had reached. He eyed me. A low rumble of thunder echoed in the distance. I shoved the address closer to his face, this time he didn't reach.

He smirked. "Not even close."

"Which direction?"

"You need to go about thirty miles back in the direction you came from." He laughed.

I growled. Stomping back out into the rain which had only eased a little. He watched me from the door of the booth until I was out of sight. Jerk!

It took me longer to get back to the car because the puddles had grown substantially and I had to dodge them.

The shoulder where I had parked was narrow. So it took me two goes at turning to get fully around in the opposite direction. I drove more slowly this time, not wanting to miss a thing.

__________________________________________________________________________________

I don't know when the realisation hit me. Maybe a couple of hours later. It hit me like a ton of bricks. He had **lied** to me. That random guy from the booth thingy had lied to me. That gate and booth getup was the only thing I had seen for about fifty miles in any direction. My anger flashed just as a bolt of lightning hit a tree in the far off forest. The sound was defining.

Why would he do that? I'd only asked for directions. I hated people who intentionally lied. My anger boiled over and I drove like crazy back to confront him. Jerk!

This time I didn't bother parking around the corner. I drove right up to the gate. I spotted another car on the other side of the fence with it's lights trained on the booth.

I got out of the car with a jerky movement slamming the door behind me with so much force that I thought that the window might break. I didn't make an effort with my hood this time as I stormed over to the door. My hair spilling over my shoulder, limp and wet. Everything was silent but the lights were on inside. As if they couldn't hear me this time.

I kicked the door with all the effort I could muster. It didn't do anything accept send a vibration through my entire body and make me clutch at my aching side. "HEY!" I yelled short, sharp and angry.

The door swung open with a bang. It was the same guy. The one with spiky brown hair.

He had the Gaul to smirk at me as he spoke, "Your back?"

I glared at him, "You lied." I spoke through my teeth in a low voice. More thunder rolled in the distance. Muted and deep.

His smirk faded, "Well, you're here now. What do you want?" He crossed his arms, his frame taking up the whole door way.

"I'm here to see someone." I still spoke through gritted teeth.

"Who?" He asked casually.

"A lady by the name of Lissa Dragomir." As I spoke a glint of recognition flashed in his eyes but his expression didn't change.

He picked up a clip board and pretended to glance at it.

"Nope, sorry. No one here by that name." He spoke as he tossed the clip board back onto an unseen desk beside the door.

"LIAR!" I screamed. Taking a step closer to him. Boom! Another crash of thunder hit close by. Illuminating the surrounding area.

It was then that I knew. He was just stalling me. Out of the corner of my right eye I saw someone approach me from behind my car. And another coming at me from the left, out from behind the booth.

I turned, towards the closest one on my right. Light from the open doorway highlighting a few of his features and catching a glint off something in his hands.

I tensed, dropping my arms to my side and repositioning my feet.

**A/N: I do wish more people would review.... Shout out to my No. 1 fan Marina!**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: I do not own VA or Twilight or any other book/TVshows/movies that I may or may not have referenced in this piece. **

**Chapter 8. The Royal Court.**

It was a stake.

The young guy in the doorway was the first to speak, "Look at her eyes. They're red."

My head swung back to his direction. More thunder peeled through the night sky.

"I haven't been crying," I said defensively. My bottom lip sticking out into an automatic pout. A gust of wind blowing my wet and tangled hair about my face. Slick strands sticking to my face. I brushed them away.

The guy in the doorway let out a bellowing laugh. I just stared at him hoping my gaze would pierce through his head or something painful like that.

But it was a bolt of lightening that struck the top of the booth sending a spray of bright sparks in all directions and the man in the doorway and the other two ducking down. I stepped backwards pressing myself against the car. My mouth hanging a little ajar.

It was the man on my right who stood and continued to approach me. I took some more slight steps away from him. My head whipping around to judge the distance between me and the other one. He stepped further into the light cast off from the doorway. The spiky haired one from the doorway was nowhere to be seen so the light illuminated his features fully.

His hair was short and light, maybe blond. And his eyes were dark almost black.

I clenched my arms around my middle, hugging myself. He kept stepping forward and I kept stepping back, away from him.

"Stay away from me," I growled not taking my eyes off of him.

His face was unreadable, but he held his hands in what was apparently supposed to be some sort of calming gesture, like I was a rabid animal he was planning to sedate.

The stake he had been holding was no where in sight.

Another diversion. Grr!

The other one - I now realised was a woman because her stupid boobs were poking into my back - wrapped her arms tightly around the top of my arms. I couldn't move them. Instead I tried to kick her from behind instantly giving up that tactic as soon as an unbelievable pain ripped through my side. Almost making me black out. I stopped struggling weak from exhaustion and pain. My head ached.

I could feel the woman's breath brush past my ear and cheek. "She has a bite mark."

The man dropped his arms and walked quickly over to where I was being held. His fingers lightly pulling back my hair as he examined it. He pressed down, creating a sharp throbbing through my neck. I winced and then I struggled, bringing my knee up. Which he blocked instantly. "Its fresh, less then a month old. And her eyes are brown." He said shaking his head. He turned and started back towards the booth's doorway.

The woman's arms released from around my own. The sudden freeing caused me to drop to the ground. I scrambled over to my car. Leaning my back against the tyre. I was panting hard, sucking as much air in as I could. As if that would dull the pain. I wrapped my arms around my middle again. Putting a little pressure on my side.

The woman crouched beside me. "You alright kid?"

I just glared at her. Of corse I wasn't freaking alright. My head was pounding like a jackhammer had been let loose in there and my insides were spilling out through the gash in my side. Did I mention I just got jacked by some randoms that thought I was a freaking Strigoi monster. All because my eyes were red?? I wanted to hit something. Maybe if that jerk came back I'd hit him.

It was like my prayers had been answered.

The dark haired jerk was been led out of the booth by the blond haired man.

I jerked to my feet, my side screaming at the quick movement. He stood just a few feet in front of me. I just glared at him while I continued sucking air through my teeth.

He shrugged and said, "Look, I am sor…."

He had no chance. I thrust as much power as I could in a back handed motion across his face sending him sprawling to the ground.

The woman had her arms clenched around me again. And again, I struggled. "Stupid Jerk!" I yelled. I wanted to keep hitting him. Taking all my anger and frustration from the last week out on him. I just didn't have enough energy to do it. Suddenly having that dizzying feeling return I slumped back into the woman and she struggle to keep us both upright.

Glittering black spots began to dance across my field of vision. They grew bigger and bigger. I heard the woman's voice again shouting, "Mikhail!" but it sounded distant as the darkness engulfed me.

__________________________________________________________________________________

When I woke up, I had a disorientated feeling wash over me. For one I had no idea where I was and I no longer had my coat on. In fact all my clothes were gone and replaced with a god awful lavender gown thing that itched and chafed all over. As soon as I spotted it I knew I was in some sort of hospital or something close to the equivalent. It didn't have the same harsh lighting as the one in Port Angeles did. It was kind of dappled, almost soothing.

I bolted upright. My head swam but I didn't get that instant feeling of pain. I moved my hand to touch my side but it was caught up in some tubes and wires. I grimaced and instantly tried to pull some of them out.

The wire was only attached to the top of my finger with a clip so that was easy to pull off. The tubes however, were cleverly wrapped up under a thick bandage. I started to unwind it, its length frustrating me to no end.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice said smoothly. I hadn't noticed anyone else in the room. He was sitting partially hidden behind hideous floral curtains.

I scowled, "What's it to you?" I continued to unwind the bandage.

"I don't want to have someone have to restrain you, Again." He retorted.

I glanced around trying to see his face. It was the blond guy, the one who tried to stake me.

My glare increased and my nose wrinkled. I come to the end of the wrapping and bunched it up and threw it up against the wall. I pressed the clear square that covered the needle in the top of my hand. But before I had a chance to pull it off, my wrist were encircled with his huge man hands.

"Hey!" I protested pulling away.

But he didn't let go. "Its in there for a reason." he reasoned. Staring at me intently.

"Your. Hurting. Me." I said through my teeth. And he was. The skin on my left wrist and forearm was already pulled tight there and his manacles were not helping.

He released me, pushing my hands to my chest, and walked over to the window. It was covered with thick, heavy drapes that blocked out any sunlight.

"Where's my stuff?" I said gruffly.

Obviously this place wasn't worth it. I didn't care how much faith my mother had in this _Lissa_ person. It was not worth staying here any longer. I could be out there looking for her. I swung my legs off the side of the bed.

His eyes were still on me. "Your, err, clothes? Well, um, they were covered with blood. They were thrown out." His eyes shifted to the floor.

I thought for a second.

_Ben_. I had to be. I wasn't bleeding. "It wasn't mine." I chocked out.

Confusion crossed his face. "Yes, it was. You were bleeding very badly. From your side." He nodded towards me.

I pulled up the lavender gown and examined my side. It was wrapped thickly all the way around my stomach. A small line of red showing though. It wasn't painful. More like a dull ache.

"You passed out from blood loss. The wound was going septic. You could have died, if you were anywhere else you would have." His face was concerned. "Who did that to you?"

"Why do you even care?" I paused, remembering. "You were going to stake me."

It was then a doctor came in. She was middle aged and very tall. And her skin was so pale. Almost too pale, I shrunk away from her as she approached me from the other side of the room. Somehow I thought that her eyes would be red.

She seemed shocked to see me sitting on the edge of the bed. "Honey, you shouldn't be moving around, your really hurt." She said in a calm voice.

"I'm fine." I said in a flat tone. To prove my point I was about to jump up off of the bed. But when Blondie eyed me menacingly, I though better of it.

"I'm Dr. Drollemager and you are?" she asked.

I stayed silent. No way. Not a chance. I was leaving. No need to get on first name basis if I wasn't staying.

"Okey." She drew the word out. She glanced over to Blondie who was leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed.

"How old are you?" she shot me another question.

I glared at her this time. She seemed surprised at my expression and moved back slightly.

She was about to ask another question when I cut her short, "Am I a prisoner?"

Now she looked confused. I sort of felt like one. Especially with Blondie over in the corner ready to man handle me the moment I tried anything.

"Do you feel like a prisoner?" Was her response. Stupid question with a question. I growled.

"When can I leave?" I shot straight back at her.

"When do you want to leave?"

I could feel a trickle of anger beginning to flow through me. I stepped down on the cold hard floor. Blondie jerked up from his lazy pose, his arms straightening at his side, in a classic defensive move.

I turned my back away from him, towards the bed, pulling the IV from my hand and tossing it down.

"Are you a shrink?"

"What makes you think I'm a psychologist?" she asked calmly.

"Why do you keep answering my questions with more questions?" I said through gritted teeth. Venom dripping from every word.

"Why do you?" She said that, oh too smugly for my liking. I turned, walking slowly around the bed to where she stood. But I stopped. My attention caught on something outside the room. Across the hall in the nurses station a TV flickered with a news flash. The volume was low but still enough so that I could hear.

_And in other news Washington State Troopers have issued an AMBER Alert for missing fifteen year old Dominica Janine Belikov. She was staying with friends after a mysterious fire burnt down the family home, in Port Angeles, killing four unknown persons. _

Four? No! That wasn't right. NO! There were five. Two humans and three….three Strigoi.

_The Browder family, to whom the teenager was staying with, were found a week after the fire, by neighbours, slain in their beds. Police believe that the fire and the slayings are connected and fear for the safety of Dominica. They are investigating links to the Russian Mafia. If you have any information on the where abouts of Dominica Belikov or information on the Murders of John and Karen Browder or their two children seventeen year old Benjamin or four year old Cassandra please contact your local authorities. _

They flashed up several pictures, including one of me. Oh god. It wasn't fair. Why did they have to do that to them. They were innocent. I sucked in a large amount of air. My hand reaching out to the bed to steady myself.

Before I could, two hands were firmly around my shoulders holding me up.

"That's you? Isn't it?" He whispered.

"Don't touch me!" I yelled. Spinning on the spot. The lights flickered as a large crash of thunder boomed overhead.

I clutched the sides of my head as hammering returned. The image of the Strigoi who attached me returned to my mind. I clenched my eyes shut picturing each of them over and over. The one who spoke to me. It had to be that one.

"I killed them…. They were dead, There were five of them… I… I….killed them." I stammered. The words rolling around in my head. "I set him on fire." The memory of his hand across my face made me touch my cheek. My eyes flicked open. "Why did they say there were only four? There was five!"

Two sets of eyes stared at me with sympathy. I just stared back, my mind reeling. Realisation hit me. He had gotten away. The one who spoke to me. He had gotten away. And found me again. He was punishing me. By killing Ben and his family, he was punishing me. That's why he left me alive. Sick and twisted. I felt my stomach lurch.

I backed up till my back hit the wall and I slid down it. Clutching my knees I placed my head on top of them and just stared off into space, my face frozen in an expressionless pose.

Somehow they managed to get me back to the bed. It was mostly Blondie carrying me bridal style. But I didn't want to go and tried weakly and in vain, to scratch his eyes out. He held me down as another person probably a nurse or something stuck a needle in my arm. Almost immediately that feeling of serenity trickled through my veins.

I tried to fight it. But the heaviness soon took over. And my eyes slumped closed.

__________________________________________________________________________________

My dreams disturbed me. I imagined myself watching unnoticed as that Strigoi wondered slowly though Ben's house. Picking up things and examining them then putting them back down. I watched him go to Ben's parents room and butcher them. Mr Browder first while Mrs Browder slept on. Then her.

I screamed and screamed but he didn't stop. I approached him to try to stop him. But it was as if I was a ghost. He walked right through me. Straight to Cassie's room. She had been awake. Hiding under her covers.

I watched him toy with her. Chasing her around her room blocking her escape. Pulling at her hair hoping she'd scream. Only she didn't. Small whimpers was all she could manage. He grew bored of her all too soon as she sat in the middle of her bedroom curled up in a ball with her eyes closed.

Tears streaked my ghostly face as I cried at her to keep fighting. To run. To do something. Not to give up.

He smirked as he circled her. Poking her sides trying to get a response. I couldn't look away. I watched as he placed his hands on either side of her head picking her up so that she could look in his eyes. Her small hands gripped over his trying to free herself. All the while her eyes closed.

"_Open your eyes, child." _

As soon as she did he twisted her neck in such a fast way that the motion snapped it without her body even moving. I turned away from the sight only to be horrified by the sounds of him feeding from her tiny body.

I heard him drop her and I turned to watch him wipe the ruminants of blood from his face along the length of his sleeve.

I knew where he would be heading next. He had saved Ben till last.

I watched him watch the sleeping figures of Ben and I. Ben's arms still wrapped around my waist. We both looked so peaceful.

A huge smirk on his face. I yelled at myself. Screamed. I even tried to kick myself to get my attention, to wake me up. But nothing.

It seemed like he watched us for some time. My anger at him for being there waning as heaving sobs took over. I watched him bend over our sleeping figures, his fingers sweeping over my still face. Tucking stray hair behind my ear. Running his hands over my bare arms. Touching my mothers pendent.

He pulled his hands away quickly as if it burned him. It was then I saw the large knife. He must have picked it up from the kitchen before I first saw him.

Ben shifted in his sleep pulling me closer. Like he unconsciously knew we were in some sort of danger. I began screaming again. Pleading. Pleading that he would leave. I knew it was all useless. I already lived through what happened next but it didn't stop me from screaming.

I must have woken up because I was being shaken. I was still screaming but arms constricted around my own from behind. I was half on, half off the hospital bed.

A smooth voice whispering, "Its okey, calm down. Just breath."

I felt angry. Not because I just relived through one of the most horrific things anyone could but because I knew it was the Blond guy restraining me. What had the other one called him? Michael? Mikle? No, _Mikhail_.

I stopped screaming, sucking in deep breaths. One after another. His grip never loosening. When I had finally composed myself. I said angrily through my teeth, "Let me go, Mikhail."

I whipped my head around nearly head butting him in the process. He did release me, as soon as he did I sprung up and away from him towards the covered window.

He was dressed differently from the last time I had seen him. Maybe it was a new day. Or several days had passed. I was wasting my time here. I had to leave as soon as I could.

He distracted me from my thoughts by asking, "Bad dream?"

I just stared at the floor. Not really wanting to answer but knowing that if I didn't then I was on a one way trip to a long white jacket and a nice cushy padded room. I nodded and answered, "Yeah," without looking up.

He didn't say anything more about my screaming outburst. Instead he chucked me a pile of clothes including a pair of big black boots. "Here, put these on. The Docs discharging you."

I just stared at him. Why would they? I knew enough, that if someone woke up screaming, that there was something seriously wrong. Upstairs. But I knew without having to look that my side wound was doing pretty well. It only hurt a lot when I leapt from the bed instead of constantly hurting all the time when I moved like before. And my head ache was more or less just a thrum at the back of my head.

So maybe that's what this place's game was. Fix the physical, skip the mental. Maybe they needed the bed. That was plausible, too. Or maybe they were just moving me to the psych ward. Yeah my money was on that.

Oblivious to my internal debate, Mikhail, stood and moved towards the door. "Five minutes." He said as he left.

I unfolded the clothes on the bed. A pair of black sweat pants with a wide elastic waist band and a sporty black singlet top. I pulled the annoying lavender hospital gown off as fast as I could manage. My side had started hurting again so I put the top on first. I used the bed as a support as I slowly slid the pants on.

The boots on the other hand were going to be more difficult. I did try stretching down to put them on but something pulled at my side and caused a butt load of pain. In the end I just loosened the laces enough so that I could shove my foot into them with out having to do them up. I shoved my hair up into a messy twist hoping desperately for a hair tie.

Mikhail was waiting at the nurses station writing on some papers. I felt exposed when looked at me. Like he was looking me up and down. I crossed my arms carefully tucking my left arm under my right.

"Got anything with long sleeves?" I asked in a sarcastic tone.

"You cold?" He asked.

"No." I shot him without thinking. I was self conscious more then anything. I hated when people stared at me. It was usually because they spotted the burn scares on my arm. But now they have a whole other reason. I was still covered head to toe with hand prints in the shape of bruises. Most had faded but there were a few that still stood out against my skin.

I just looked at my arms. I think he got the message as he handed me a black hoodie that was folded beside him on the desk. I grabbed it but instantly wished it had a zipper front. Instead I had to pull it over my head. I shoved my hands in first and lifted them but I barely got them over my head when I had to stop because of the pain. Not the best idea, Demi. So there I stood frozen in front of Mikhail when a set of big hands tugged the jumper down over my head in one sweeping move.

When I got my head through the head hole, I gave him a murderous look.

"Your welcome, Lets go." Was all he said.

I followed him along the corridor. We stepped through a set of huge metal swinging doors and everything changed. What was once hospital stark white and metal had morphed into elegance. The walls were covered in rich dark blue wall paper with an embossed lighter blue leaf pattern. The white linoleum flooring was replaced with a lush royal blue carpet. And all the way along were fancy high-backed chairs, wooden side tables and even a exuberant off-white two seater couch further down. The walls were covered with pictures and paintings of different places and people framed in gold, silver and rich wooden borders.

I shuffled along not only because I wanted to look at the pictures but because my boots were starting to slip around on my feet. I didn't have any socks on and the sides were rubbing against them.

We turned the corner and it was suddenly a whole lot more populated. The room had expanded and was now the size of half a football field. It must have been a lobby or reception area because there were a number of doors and other corridors running off the sides. And the roof was so high. At least twenty feet high and there was another level directly above with a balcony that opened up to the area.

My boots were really starting to annoy me and I was so distracted by the room and the people around me that I almost tripped on an oriental rug half way across the room. Mikhail grabbed my arm steading me. He gave me a weird look. "Are your boots laced?"

Before I could even answer he had one of my feet balancing on his knee, as he bent in front of me, tying the laces up. I wobbled a little but he grabbed my leg to balance me. Almost every eye in the room had focused on us. Or more importantly me. I could feel their eyes boring into me.

I could have died from embarrassment_._


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: I do not own VA or Twilight or any other book/TVshows/movies that I may or may not have referenced in this piece. **

**Chapter 9. What to do with the unwanted.**

I just stood in the middle of that beautiful room balancing on one leg while Mikhail did up my laces. He pushed my foot off his knee and grabbed the other one. God, I feel like I'm two. But I let him do it. There was no way I could have done it myself and I'd rather them tied then having HIM swing off my arm catching me whenever I stumbled. No way in hell.

Just as he finished he looked up and asked, "When was the last time you ate something?"

Right on cue, my stomach grumbled. Great! I just loved showing weakness in front of people. Yeah. Go ahead make fun. I could just hear him trying to stifle a laugh or something.

So I just shrugged nonchalantly, "I don't know…. What day is it?"

I was serious, though. The last day I had eaten was the…. I couldn't think of that. I wouldn't. No.

He pushed my foot back to the ground and stood. He didn't have to say anything, I knew that I should follow. He steered us down another long corridor that branched off from the main lobby. There were a few other people coming and going through the same passage and again most of them were staring at us. No me.

I walked gruffly with my arms still folded. Where he hell was he taking me? We came to the end of the corridor where a set of double frosted glass doors sat. He pressed though them and I followed but not before I saw another guy behind me just standing there staring at me.

"Why the hell do people keep staring at me? What? Am I the new sideshow in this freak house?" I said loudly as I stepped through still looking behind me.

Crap! More stares.

He had led me to some sort of cafeteria place, only more posh. With at least a hundred people all sitting around eating. They had all stopped mid conversation and looked. Great.

I was so sulking, now. I knew it and Mikhail knew it. He just shook his head. He showed the way to an empty four seater table and said, "Sit!" in a gruff voice. So I did and he left to do something.

I was conscious of a whole lot of people still staring at me. I tried to ignore them but I could feel their eyes boring into me the same way they had in the other room and I could feel the deep red blush sprawling across my face. I just sat there with my arms still crossed, sinking as far down into the chair as I could, staring at the wooden pattern on the table.

I looked up when Mikhail placed a round white plate in front of me. He had got me a sandwich. I rolled my eyes. So chivalry wasn't dead. He was also carrying a glass of milk. He sat in the seat directly opposite from me placing the glass of milk in front of him. I watched him as he pulled out a small white sachet. He tore off the top and poured a fine powder into the glass stirring it with a long spoon. It turned pink.

He pushed it towards me. "Here drink this. Its good for you."

I just stared at it sceptically just as I had eyed the sandwich.

"Eat!" He commanded.

I wrinkled my nose at him. Better do what he said, he might jump on me, hold me down and force feed me. I picked the top slice of bread off to see what was on it.

"P, B and J? What the Hell? What am I, Ten?" I scowled pushing the plate away from me.

"Well if you aren't going to eat the sandwich, at least drink the milk." he sighed.

"No way! I totally saw you put something in there. Probably trying to drug me again or something." I said a little too loud which cause more stares.

He sighed again, tossing me the empty packet. It was in Russian. I scowled. "It's a protein shake. Its got vitamins and minerals in it. To help you heal faster."

I started reading the ingredients out, "Sugar, glaucous, Calcium, Iron, Manganese, Sodium phosphate…" and a bunch of others. Seemed legit. He was staring at me again.

I took a small sip. It didn't taste half bad, like strawberry flavoured milk. But there was no way I was going to admit that so I put on a fake sour look.

He started to say something but I interrupted him, "Why do people keep staring at me?"

But it wasn't him that answered me. It was a woman. "They're just curious to see the girl who beat the snot out of a spoiled Moroi prince and then demanded to see the queen." She said as she sat in the vacant chair between Mikhail and me and started eating what looked to be a salad. She was the one that had bear hugged me at the front gate.

She was kind of pretty. Like maybe she had once been beautiful but had spent way too much time in the elements. She had short spiky brown hair. Which I had noticed was some sort of trend with the women in this place. And green eyes.

Wait! What? I never asked to see the queen. What queen? I stared at her, "No I didn't. I mean I smacked that stupid jerk for being a stupid jerk but I never asked to see a queen. I don't even know a queen. Except the one in England." I paused, that didn't make sense. "Wait, she's not here, is she?"

I must have had a serious look on my face because they both laughed at me and I felt that stupid glow brush over my face again. I snatched the glass from the table, slumped back into the chair and started sipping at it again.

After a few minutes Mikhail got up and took my uneaten sandwich back to the counter.

The woman turned to me. "So, my name's Amanda. You are?" she paused waiting for my response.

I ignored the question staring at the wall just behind her head. She turned to look at Mikhail who was making his way back to the table. I was distracted. On the back of her exposed neck were four little crossed lightening strikes and a squiggly line. I stared at them. They reminded me of the same ones that my mother hid behind her long hair. She had told me what they were called once. Gopher marks or something like that.

"Don't worry about her, she wont tell anyone her name. But we know it's Dominica." Mikhail answered the question for me.

She must have been ready to shoot me another question but I interrupted her, "What are those thingy's on the back of your neck." I asked curiously. "I mean I know what they are. Mole somethings, but what do they mean?"

I had asked my mother the exact question when I was about 8. She just replied that they were her _molnija_ marks. Nothing more.

She looked slightly caught off guard. Mikhail had a scrutinising look on his face like he was trying to guess what I was thinking.

"Well," She replied slowly, " Each symbol has a different meaning. The ones I have are the most common among the guardians. The crossed lightening bolts. They mean that I have killed a Strigoi. I have four _molnija_ marks, which means I have killed four Strigoi." She now had this look on her face like she though I was dumb or something.

I snorted into my milk.

"What?" She said now looking slightly annoyed.

"Only four?" I said sarcastically.

Whoa she looked pissed. "Have you even seen a Strigoi?" She replied with venom. But then stopped with a apologetic look on her face.

I didn't say a word. Yeah more then you'll ever know. I just took another sip of the milk. We sat in silence for a few minutes.

"So what dose the squiggly one at the top of your neck mean?" I asked still curious.

She must have seen my general interest and explained further. "The 'squiggle' mark" she even used air quotation marks, "is a promise mark. It signifies that you are a guardian. Every one gets them when they graduate and get their first assignment." She seemed satisfied with her answer.

"Can you get the mole marks before you get the squiggle mark?"

She gave me a look like she wasn't sure and she then glanced to Mikhail. "It is possible," he answered, "but highly unlikely."

Humm. My mother didn't have the squiggle promise mark thingy. But she did have two of those lightening ones and a little star one, too. She never let them show. Always keeping her hair tied low or out over her shoulders.

"What do the little star ones mean?" I asked again.

They both looked at me, Amanda with her mouth slightly agape. "Where did you see that one?" Mikhail asked.

Oh crap, I said too much, "Never mind." I mumbled. I picked up the glass and chugged the remaining milk. I was hungry. But I doubt they wouldn't notice if I went up to the counter and asked for a pint of blood. Back to the white padded cell for Demi, I thought.

"You done?" Mikhail asked nodding in my direction.

"Yeah, I suppose I am." I replied placing the glass down.

He jerked up in a swift move. Nodded to Amanda, "Guardian Palmer."

"Guardian Tully," she replied.

Must be some freaky guardian thing. I eased myself up out of the chair and we were off again.

__________________________________________________________________________________

We walked for what seemed forever and I was getting a little tired. Technically I hadn't had any sleep that wasn't drug induced for a long while. Hell, I didn't even know what day it actually was. We ended up in a small office. It was dark and dimly lit. The furniture and décor wasn't as opulent as the other places Mikhail and I had walked through, but it had its charm.

He shot me a don't-follow-me look and said "Sit," as he gestured to the tan coloured couch furtherest from the reception desk. He really needed to work on his vocabulary or at least his bedside manor.

I decided to stand. It wasn't like he was watching and I was interested in the photos on the wall. There was a long line of photos progressing through, what I thought was, time. Each one getting slightly older and the fashion getting more and more old school as they went along the wall. In all of them there was either a man or a woman or sometimes both sitting all regal and proper posing for the camera.

I stood there for a while taking each one in individually and then the group as a whole. It was impressive. There must have been about twenty of them and the older ones towards the end were not photographs but miniature painted portraits.

"Lets go," His voice caught me off guard. It had a slightly irritated ring to it.

After more walking he led me to another room. It was up several flights of stairs and the way we went reminded me of the rabbit wren design that hotels and motels sometimes had.

He gestured me into the room first with a wave of his hand. The room itself was sparsely furnished. With only a double bed, a chest of draws, a bare wooden table with matching chairs and an old brown sofa. There was one window at the far end of the room. It was almost exactly like a motel room and I had been in plenty of them to tell.

I must have been too busy examining the room to notice that Mikhail didn't follow me into the room. I turned around to see him closing the door on me. I rushed over and grabbed the door handle only to hear it locking from the other side.

"HEY!" I yelled as I banged my fist on the door. "What the Hell?!" I could barely make out his footsteps as they walked away from the room. I kept twisting the doorknob somehow wishing that it would give out. But it didn't and I gave up on it. I turned my attentions to the window at the far end of the room. It had heavy dark blue drapes that easily pulled back and forth. I pulled at the window straining my self in the process.

It wouldn't budge. I investigated it closer. The whole widow pane was bolted to the frame with screws. Grr.

Impossible.

I paced the room. Back and forth. Back and forth. I hated being idle, with nothing to do, it was worse being stuck doing something that you hated doing. Least then you could concentrate on getting the task done. Here, I had no idea when Mikhail was coming back or even if he was coming back. If they didn't think that I was crazy before just leave me here in this room for a couple hours and see what I'm like then.

I could feel the tension rolling off me. I was getting anxious. I could be out looking for my mother instead of being stuck here.

Okey. Okey, calm down, Demi. Just think. Okey lets go though the numbers of pi.

Three point one four one five nine two six five three eight nine seven…..

Okey that helped, Not! Breath. Remember back to you yoga lessons. What had the instructor said? What I should do if I was ever anxious like this. 'Fix you eyes onto a candle or something of the equivalent.' Okey, I don't have any candles, that's not helping.

I hurried over to the draws, rummaging through the top one to find something to distract me. There were mostly just clothes in them. I pulled out the next draw More clothes. And the next one. Again more clothes. I pulled he bottom one out. No clothes. It was almost empty except for a book with handwritten notes in it and a ratty looking brown bear.

I picked up the bear. Taking it and sitting on the bed. It looked like a child's bear. Loved and well worn with easily identifiable patch jobs all over it and bald patches in the fur. It had a small silver chain tightly wrapped around its neck. And a black ribbon with a bronze key on it. Wonder what that was for.

I had to try, right? I got off the bed and went to the locked door. Nope. Wishful thinking. Damn.

I plonked back down onto the bed. Lying on my back with my feet still planted on the floor. My side didn't hurt as much as before just a dull ache, again.

I held the bear up above my head. Twirling it around making it dance through the air.

And just like that, one minute I was pacing the room desperately searching for something to distract me and the next I had Mikhail looming over me with a furious look on his face.

He grabbed the bear from my grasp. "Didn't you hear me calling you?" he said in a biting tone.

I looked up at him and shrugged. "Nope," I said reaching for the bear. He pushed my hand away and walked to the dresser shoving clothes back in and the bear into the bottom draw.

"What happened here?" He eyes me questioningly

"I needed to distract myself." I answered truthfully.

"By going through someone else's things."

I held my hands up defensively. "Its not like you told me not to." I protested.

"Well maybe you should just think, next time." He said quietly his tone taking on a bitter quality.

"You at least need to get some sleep." he said finally after a few minutes of silence.

I shrugged again, "It might be dark outside because of the stupid rain but the suns just started coming up, It's day time out there." I nodded towards the window.

"We run on a nocturnal schedule here." He with a sigh.

"What, like bats?" I said wrinkling my nose. My mother had explained that part to me, about how the Moroi had an intolerance to sunlight and that all places that accommodated them ran on a night timetable. I just said it to see the amused expression on Mikhail's face.

"You really should get some sleep. You can sleep in those," he said pointing to a fresh bundle of clothes sitting on the table.

"What about you? Do you sleep?" I asked harshly.

"I'm on duty." Was all he said.

He started to leave. "Wait? Your going?" Great he was leaving me alone, again. I tried to suppress a groan. Even if it was HIM at least I had company. But no. He was leaving me alone. Again.

"I'm still on duty." He informed me.

"Well, what the hell am I supposed to do?" I grumbled.

"Sleep!" he said it in that commanding type voice that he had used earlier in the day.

I looked down at the bed playing with the bed covers and then back at him, "But…" I didn't finish. What could I say? Yeah I'll close my eyes but sleep is never going to hit me. Every time I shut my eyes all I can see is my blood soaked hands and Ben's little sister Cassie, all twisted and mutilated. Yeah sure.

He just gave me a sympathetic look before turning to leave. Damn it! Why couldn't I keep my mouth shut.

"At least try to, okey?" He said in a low voice without turning to meet my eyes.

"Okey," I mumbled.

He turned and left.

How the hell did he do that? I was mad at him for locking me in and then… then. Then, god, I don't know.

_I hummed tunelessly to myself._

_I am restless and I keep trembling._

_Everyone watch me as I descend._

_Into a feeling that's overwhelming me_

_I've finally stopped. Stopped making sense. _

_I can't stop talking to myself. _

_I'm a desperate cry for help. _

_Run, don't walk. The sky is falling, through. _

_Don't talk tonight. I'm so confused._

_I'm lost. I'm lost with you. _

_I don't care. Where we are._

_Or where we're headed to. _

_But I know I'm lost. _

_I'm lost with you. With you._

I missed my mother.

Images of the last time I saw her, ran through my head. She had smiled at me but she wasn't happy. Far from it. Though, I lacked the necessary social skills to interact effectually with others, I knew my mother. I knew she was hiding something from me. It was in her eyes. They were so sad.

My head spun. She knew!

She had known she wasn't coming back this time. I gripped the sides of my head.

Why?

What was she doing? Why would she leave? I whimpered. But refused to let tears fall. I lay on my side crossing my arms and letting my nails dig into the soft flesh under them. I curled my knees up. I couldn't think. I closed my eyes.

I was on a beach. No, it was my beach. I scanned around looking for the dark haired stranger that I knew wouldn't be far. But no, the beach was empty. I walked slowly along the waters edge grateful that nothing was chasing me or yelling or trying to bite me. It was peaceful. The shoreline and the countryside gently melding together in the distance. Kind of like you would find on a postcard, signs inviting all to sail, water ski or to hike along the trails. The water's calling to me, asking me to swim in its crystal clearness, but there's no time for a swim. It isn't why I'm here. I felt a sense of urgency, but for what I could not fathom.

A beach house looms just down the beach. Funny, I've never seen that in my dream before. Though, I never remember going this far down the beach before either.

I entered, slowly walking around. Lifting different objects and placing them back down. Everything was covered in a thin layer of dust. Like no one had been in this place for a long time.

The bedroom, the only other room, I paused taking in a gasp of air. Three skeletons, long dead, a couple tucked in the bed together, and at the foot of the bed; the bones of their faithful dog.

Was the dog unable to fend for herself or just unwilling? Was she trapped inside? Did they let her go? Did she have no place to go? When her masters stopped talking and moving, did she simply lie down and wait for them?

I could have cried - even my dreams are abandoning me now - how sad am I.

Was I that dog? Was I unwilling to leave my mothers side? Would I do the same, just lay down and wait? Something in my mind gave way to a thought that I was never going to see my mother again. She was lost to me.

A sob escaped my lips, I didn't want to see this anymore. I turned to leave the room, but I was caught in strong arms. My dark haired stranger. Minus the nose itching cigarette smoke.

His arms circled around me, holding me to his chest. _"Your not alone, sweetheart."_ He whispers to me.

We stood like this for what seemed like an eternity. Him brushing his fingers through my hair, crooning to me, _"It's going to be okey. Your alright." _It was comforting, Like a father comforting his child. I just held close to him, sobbing into his shirt.

But all too soon I felt a tug around my waist, like someone had lassoed me and was now reeling me in. My dream shimmered and the beach house, along with my dark haired stranger, disappearing into darkness.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: I do not own VA or Twilight or any other book/TVshows/movies that I may or may not have referenced in this piece. **

**Chapter 10. If it can be broken, then it is broken.**

I was in a new place now, still dreaming, but fearful of the darkness.

I was walking through the gloom. No lights, not even the tiny pinpricks of the stars illuminated my surrounds. I continued walking feeling that ever increasing sense of urgency.

A tiny speck of orange appeared on the horizon. I followed it and it grew bigger. The fire lit the entrance of an even darker cave. I entered, somehow knowing that this was what I was looking for.

My skin crawled, I was not alone. Luminescent pairs of eyes peered out at me from hollows and caverns dotted along the path I followed. Not knowing or caring that I shouldn't be in there.

The cave opened up into a huge dark space. Illuminated by more fire but only enough to see a figure shackled to the wall on the far right, and not much more.

I felt myself smile wide but it wasn't me. My thoughts weren't my own. They were mixed in with someone else's, a stranger.

I casually sauntered over to the spot against the wall. My legs weren't my own. It was like my whole body was being controlled by someone else and I was just a standbyer unable to participate.

I peered at the figure pinned to the wall. I gasped. I tried to make my arms work. To try to hug her. I screamed at myself to do something. Stop watching her, comfort her. This is wrong.

My mother. Beaten, bloody and barely recognisable. Her face was one big bruise; purple, splotchy and swollen.

She was on her knees, arms in chains up above her head. Blood dripped from her wrists and trickled down her bare arms pooling on the dusty floor beneath her. Her hair loose and mattered crusted with dirt and dried blood, her head lolled to one side resting on her shoulder.

I sobbed. She was still alive, they hadn't killed her. They were torturing her instead. Why? Why would they do that.

I felt my hands glide to a cold object in my pocket. A knife. Short bladed like a boning knife. Sharp.

No, don't! Leave her alone!

I ran the knife over the skin just above her collar bone. Grazing it lightly.

"Tell me," a voice not my own whispered from my lips. "It'll be much worse for her, if you don't." It breathed.

My mother shook her head, not saying a word.

The knife went in. Digging deep under the skin and out through the other side. My fingers peeled back a long strip of flesh, tearing it at the end.

She shuddered and whimpered.

I lifted the strip of flesh and examined it further. Sticking my tongue out to taste the dripping blood. My tongue twisted around it greedily lapping at the exposed muscles. I sucked it into my mouth like a piece of spaghetti. Swallowing it slowly.

I was going to be sick. Only I didn't have control over my own body. I couldn't even close my eyes. My vision permanently focused on the spot where I had just removed the skin.

"Shall we go again?" The voice whispered.

My head swam. Wake up! Wake up! Please!

The knife went in again this time into the soft underarm flesh. Flaying the skin right up to her elbow. She screamed in pain. I cried for her. Please stop! The skin didn't come off so easily from this spot and I felt the resistance as my hands pulled at it roughly.

Her whole body was trembling, racked with convulsions. She was loosing a lot of blood.

I lent in, taking in a deep breath. My body tingled. I wanted it. Her blood.

I was repulsed even further. I gagged.

My tongue traced the open wound on her arm. Sucking at the oozing blood. My mouth tingled, wanting more.

Nooo! I sobbed, this wasn't me. Wake up! Please!

I leaned in further, softly moving the mattered hair from her face. Speaking into her ear, "Its only a matter of time. Til we find her."

But she didn't hear. She had passed out, cold.

But I was still stuck here. Still had someone else controlling my body.

I turned. But didn't want to.

Walking back down the darken pathway, following the fresh air to the outside. The illuminated pairs of eyes no longer stared back at me on the way out.

"I know your there, Dominica."

I was screaming.

My world crashed.

I grew cold.

And wet?

I was gasping for more air. Desperately trying to fill my lungs with oxygen. I was aware that I was no longer lying in the bed. But instead on a cold hard surface. Cold water gushing all over me.

I struggled to open my eyes, all the while panting through clenched teeth. I slowly recognised where I was but not why. Why was I sitting in a shower? Where had my clothes gone? I was sitting in my underwear and my black singlet top.

I tried to get up, but I slipped on the slick surface. Two arms grabbed me before I fell to the floor. Panic gripped me. I pushed them away.

"Don't touch me, Get away from me!" I yelled. I slapped my hands out feebly. The arms released me and I fell back against the hard tile wall.

I leant my weight against it, letting it hold me up. My gasping slowly subsided as I took in my surrounds. It looked like a public bathroom, the kind you find in gyms and schools.

Mikhail and Amanda stared at me from a distance. Both wearing masks of confusion and concern.

I was shaking still, I hugged my arms around myself to try to steady myself. Water dripping all around.

I tried to speak, "H…How?" but my question didn't form properly.

"Amanda. I asked her to keep an eye on you." Mikhail said calmly.

"I heard you yelling and when I went to see what was wrong. You were… I don't know. In some sort of trance." Amanda continued.

I stared at her in disbelief.

"You were shaking and mumbling and then you started screaming. I wasn't sure what to do, you wouldn't respond to me. So I brought you in here." She finished.

I was confused. I was sleeping, I was only a dream. A freaking scary as hell dream, but a dream none the less.

"You scared the hell out of us, Dominica! What the hell were you playing at!" Mikhail said angrily but his voice was drowned out by my thumping head.

I closed my eyes, the darkness behind them used to be comforting, but images flashed though my mind. The glint of the knife in the fire light. The smile I felt curl on my own lips when I saw my mother in that state. The skin as it peeled………

My stomach lurched, "I think I'm going to be sick." I whispered.

I pushed myself off the wall and shoved past the two of them. I didn't think I was going to make it into one of the stalls but thankfully I did. Slamming the door shut behind me. My stomach heaving itself roughly into the porcelain.

One of them, I'm not sure which, started through the door behind me.

"Get out!" I yelled in between gags, "Leave me alone!" I kicked the door shut with my foot.

My stomach slowly stoped churning but not before I had a severe ache through my whole mid section. I sat on the floor with my back against the wall. My head in my hand resting on the toilet seat.

I listened to voices that surrounded me.

"Guardian Tully." A rough older males voice said.

"Lord Ivashkov," Mikhail's voice echoed of the tiled walls.

"Is she alright?" The first voice sounded concerned.

"Is who alright?"

"Your charge, Guardian Tully." He sounded somewhat annoyed.

"Something she ate." Mikhail mumbled in response.

Footsteps echoed away.

I knew Mikhail was still here. "You. Tried. To. Poison. Me!" I spat between clenched teeth.

The door of the stall swung open. He stood there with his hands on his hips.

"I have to get out of here." I said to myself in a low voice.

He must have thought I was talking to him. He grasped my arm and pulled me to my feet. I reefed my arm out of his and almost slipped over in the process.

"Where's my stuff, I'm leaving." I shouted at him.

"I thought you wanted to see the Queen." He said calmly.

"Well I obviously haven't seen her! Anyway, what can she do?" Nothing that's what. They had to have told her I was here and I wanted to see her. But no, she had stayed away. No wonder my mother left.

He just stared at me. "Where will you go?"

"What's it to you?" I tried to move around him but his hulk was taking up most of the space in the cubical and blocked my exit.

"Why wont you trust me?" he said anticipating my movements and stepping in front of me. "I'm only trying to do what's best for you."

"Yeah right. You were just the poor sap that was assigned to keep an eye on me." I replied keeping my eyes on the floor.

You better watch this one she screams in her sleep, she lashes out on anyone or anything close to her and picks fights with people bigger then her.

"Your probably only here because your boss told you to be. Get as much information from her. Do a threat assessment." I said mockingly.

"That's not exactly…."

I cut him off, "DON'T try to lie to me! I hate liars!" I spat.

"Well what about you?" he accused. "When ever anyone asks you anyth…."

I cut him off again, "I don't lie!"

"No! You just don't say anything at all. Ignoring the question is just as bad as lying!" He was getting angry.

"Dominica Belikov? Is that even your real name?"

"Assume what you want! Make up the rest for all I care! I'm leaving! You cant stop me!"

"The hell I can!" He grabbed me. Twisting my arm behind me.

I struggled. But I just couldn't mange to break free. "Get off me, you bastard. Let me go!" I shrieked.

He pulled me out of the stall. Shoving me roughly towards a door.

I tried to kick him from behind but he dodged it. Clenching his hands around my wrists more tightly.

"Your hurting me!" I yelled. But he ignored me pushing me through the door.

Amanda had been waiting outside the bathroom door. I just glared at her as he guided me past. We must have still been on the same floor as the room I was previously in because he shoved me along a few hundred feet down the corridor until we came to the same room. He pushed me roughly through the frame and I stumbled forward.

"Just cool down!" He shouted at me and then he slammed the door shut. I heard the door lock again.

Livid is not the word. There wasn't a word for what I felt. I clenched my fist and pounded on the door. Screaming, "Let me the hell out! You Bastard!"

I don't know how long I pounded that door for but in the end, I gave up. Slipping down to the floor with my back to it. My hands hurt.

I eyed the room. It hadn't changed from a few hours ago when I fell asleep. The window!

But I couldn't get out there like this. I hauled myself off the floor and flew to the draws, pulling out the first pair of pants that looked like they'd fit.

I picked up one of the chairs and swung. Glass sprinkling the floor. I made sure that all of the glass was gone from the window before swinging my leg out. I heard the click of the lock being turned.

Crap! Hurry up.

I flung the rest of my body out, gripping madly to the ledge. Holy crap! How high was I? Four storeys? I skirted along barely grasping the edge. I spotted what I was looking for. A downpipe maybe a few yards away at the end of the building. I clutched another ledge just under another window. Pulling myself along.

"What the hell are you doing?" Mikhail shrieked, his head poking out the broken window.

Just ignore him. Keep going! Your almost there, just a few more feet.

The wind and rain was making it hard to manoeuvre and the cement edges where cutting into my already hurting hands but I made it to the end. I held onto the metal downpipe. It was slick and slippery.

I didn't go all the way to the ground. There was an adjoining building to this one that was only one level. I landed with a thump onto the roof. I searched the roof. Bingo! Roof access.

I made my way to the door scanning as I went. I pushed my way through and flew down the stairs trying not to slip. I stopped at the bottom. Another door stood shut. I couldn't just waltz out there. Others had to be looking now.

I pushed it open the tiniest bit just so I could see through. There were people out there but they weren't running around looking. Just going about their business. I slipped out without being seen. Hopefully. Blending in as much as I could in sopping wet clothes.

There was a commotion down the end of the hall. Someone was shouting orders. People were running.

I ducked through the nearest door. Locking it on my way in. It was someone's office. I scanned the room. Empty. Thank you, god! There was another door. Good. Another escape route if they came through the first door. I slowly stepped around the space. Careful not to disturb anything. The door handle jiggled.

Crap! That was way too fast. I stepped back.

"Open this one," I heard someone say.

Crap! They were coming in. I rushed over to the other door. It opened easily into another office space a little larger then the other one. I didn't lock this one. Maybe they would think that the other room being locked was just a coincidence or something and not bother searching this one. I dipped under a desk. Pulling my knees in tightly to my chest and the chair underneath it. It was tight.

I heard voices and the lights flickered on.

"Nothing."

"Keep looking."

The lights switched back off again. But I knew this trick. Make it look like you've left the room to flush the hiding out. Nope! Not falling for that. I kept as still as I could. Barely breathing.

I heard the door close and the lock turning.

Good.

I tried to look around, from under the desk, at this new room. There was the door I just came through, another door facing the corridor outside and a third door that I didn't know where it led.

But I couldn't stay here for too long, who knows when they would search this room again. I pushed the chair back out. But the stupid thing was on wheels and I lost my grip on it. It bounced off the desk behind the one I was under.

Crap! God! I deserved to be found. Stupid clumsy girl. I didn't wait to see if they heard it. I knew someone would have. I pushed my way through the third door.

It was like a giant sitting room. There were two love seats directly opposite a large fire place. It had a small fire burning away in it gently lighting the room with a soft glow. There were a number of arm chairs and side tables scattered around.

But nowhere to hide. There were no windows and only one other way out. Through a set of large wooden double doors.

Crap! I could hear movements in the room I had just come from. They did hear me. I ducked down behind the couch nearest the wall and furtherest from both doors.

Come on Lady Luck. Be kind to me. There was no way I was going to be locked back up. No way.

Two Guardians shoved through the door. I didn't recognise either of them but I knew they were looking for me. They slowly moved about the room.

Then one of them spotted me. "There she is!" He said gruffly.

I rose from my hiding space. Placing the couches between myself and the two guardians.

I had to be on my guard. I couldn't let one of the distract me. Like Mikhail and Amanda had done to me before. My eyes darted between the two of them.

I spoke, trying to reason with them, "I don't want to hurt anyone. I just want to leave." My voice was stern. Even though I was pretty shaken up. I just wanted to leave.

I spotted one of them talking softly to himself. No. Not himself, he must have a earpiece in. Which meant more guardians would soon be here. I had to make a move.

There was shouting in the other room beyond the double doors.

"No, Your Majesty. Don't go in there." The voice was muffled.

But the double doors swung open and a woman walked through. She had an angry look on her face. Though when she spotted the guardians the look turned to one of surprise.

"Can I help you with something, gentleman?" She asked with authority. Her blond hair bouncing as she spoke.

I couldn't help but look at her. She was very pretty. Blond hair, green eyes, slight but tall frame. Like she belonged in a magazine or on a runway.

"No ma'am, we are just trying to apprehend the girl." His head nodded in my direction.

I was half hidden in shadow. So she couldn't see me clearly.

Two more people entered the room at the same time, both from different doors. One must have been the lady's guardian and the other, I tried to suppress a groan when I saw his face, was Mikhail.

He glared at me not seeing anyone else in the room. "What the hell where you thinking, scaling down the side of the building. You could have slipped and fallen!" He was so angry.

But so was I! I had every right to be angry with him, too. "This coming from someone who locked me in a freaking room! I told you I wanted to leave! But what did you do? Lock me up. Just let me leave and you'll never have to see me again. I'll just disappear."

"You came here for help. Because you had nowhere else to go. I just want to help you." He sounded like he was pleading with me.

"Bullshit." But somehow I knew he wasn't lying. I crossed my arms and pressed myself further towards the wall.

The other two guardians hadn't moved an inch. It was like they were waiting to see what Mikhail would do.

He waved his hand flatly. This must have been a signal or something because the both of them backed away from me. I didn't take my eyes off them though. It was probably just another distraction or trick or some stupid thing like that.

I scowled.

They both moved closer to the woman who was just standing there watching our exchange. They positioned themselves between me and her and the other guardian who was trying to get her to leave. Mikhail slowly started towards me.

I shifted, "Stay away from me, Mikhail. I just want to go. I promise I wont cause any trouble if you just let me leave." I whispered.

He didn't slow his advance. I stepped further crushing my back into the wall.

He was just a few feet from me. I had nowhere to go. I was pinned in. And he just kept coming. He reached out his hands placing them softly on my shoulders. A tear betrayed me. Silently slithering down my cheek.

No! I still had to leave. I stiffened up. I shook his hands off. He was in perfect punching distance. I stepped into a defensive stance. Curling my arm back and releasing it with full force across his face. He staggered back.

And the other two launched themselves forward grabbing me roughly each one grabbing a wrist and shoving their other hand into my shoulder blade. The pulled me to the middle of the room on my knees.

I struggled with my captors. But they had a strong grip on me.

The woman still hadn't left. She merely took a few backwards steps towards the double doors content on watching the scene unfold. Curiosity filled her face along with another unknown emotion. She was staring at me with her piercing eyes. Studying me.

She gasped, her hand reaching up to cover her gaping mouth.

"Rose…?" she whispered.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: I do not own VA or Twilight or any other book/TVshows/movies that I may or may not have referenced in this piece. **

**Chapter 11. When the thorn bush turns white, that's when I'll come home.**

I stopped struggling. Mouth agape. Did she just call me….?

"You know my mum?" I whispered weakly.

"Oh my god!" She gasped again. "Let her go, let her go now!" She tried to muster all her authority in that statement but she ended up sounding like a scared teenage girl.

"But Your Majesty, she's dangerous. You saw what she did to Guardian Tully." The Guardian next to her said.

"She's not dangerous. She just needs time to calm down. She's very pissed off at the world right now." It was Mikhail. He spoke up for me. Dabbing his bloodied lip as he did.

The lady knelt down in front of me placing her cold hand on my cheek. I winced at the touch.

"You look just like her, spitting image." She mumbled.

She looked up to the two who were holding me. "Let her go, now!"

Mikhail spoke again, "Dominica? You wont hurt the Queen, will you?"

What? The queen? I snapped my head around, "You mean Lissa?" I turned back to look at her.

This was her? The only one my mother said I could trust. This lady? The Queen? How was she supposed to help me find my mother? She looked like she had never even seen a Strigoi, let alone fought one.

"No one has called me that in years." She said quietly.

The released me from their manhandling grips and I folded, sitting on my knees rubbing my wrists.

She rose to her feet again. "Out!" she snapped pointing to the doors, "Now!"

They all weren't too sure what to do. Mikhail took lead, moving cautiously towards the wooden double doors, the other three following suit. "Not you, Guardian Tully."

She walked to a phone that was mounted on a wall picking it up and dialling quickly.

Mikhail came towards me. Slowly. Like he was unsure how I would react. I didn't even know how I was going to react. The past few hours have been like…like. I don't know. My emotions were just so all over the place. I was frightened for my mother. Seeing her like that, seeing me do that to her. Even if it wasn't me. I still felt like I was there whilst it happened. I felt responsible.

Then overwhelming anger towards Mikhail. I wasn't even sure why? He only tried to make me stay when I wanted to leave. I felt helpless because I couldn't help my mother, maybe I just took it out on him. But then he yelled and I yelled. God. Why couldn't I just see that he was trying to help me out. Stupid. My head was starting to ache.

He held out his hand to me. Gesturing to me to take it. I did, reluctantly and he pulled me to my feet.

"You okey?" He asked.

"Yeah," I said going back to rubbing my wrists.

"Sorry I hit you," I murmured. "I felt…."

"Threatened? Cornered? Frightened?" He was staring at me intently.

"Something like that."

I suppose, maybe he should have seen it coming. He was there when I hit that stupid jerk at the front gate and it was pretty much the same technique.

The queen hung up the phone and walk back to where we were standing.

She took my hands in hers. They were icy cold. I felt the urge to pull them away from her. But I didn't want to seem rude. She had this silly sort of smile on her face.

"I cant believe how much you look like her." She shook her head, "What's your name, again, sweetheart?"

I cringed at being called sweetheart, "Um, It's Dominica."

She kept staring at me expectantly. "Um, Dominica Janine Belikov."

"Belikov? That's why we could never find her," she said confused. "Or you." She added as an after thought.

"No, no. Belikov is my name, from my father. She never changed her name. We just…..moved a lot."

Her eyes grew wide. Shock marred her pretty face. "She told you that…..that he…." She didn't finish.

"What?" Now I eyed her with suspicion. I pulled my hands from hers. Letting them stiffen at my sides. I saw Mikhail in my peripheral vision staring at me again. Seeing how I would react.

She grew cautious, "She told you that Guardian Belikov was your father?"

"Dimitri Belikov is my father." I said between gritted teeth. What was she implying? That my mother had lied to me? That my father isn't my father?

I stepped away from her. I wanted to scratch her eyes out. Make her take it back. But somehow, she believed that. She believed that she wasn't lying.

"Calm down, Dominica." Mikhail said as he put his hand on my shoulder.

"You don't understand, sweetheart." There was that stupid word again. "A Dhampir and another Dhampir cant have children together. Its genetically impossible."

She was lying. She had to be. Only I knew she wasn't.

"How old are you dear? You cant be any older then 15 because that would mean that she was pregnant with you while she was still at the Academy. But I would have known, she would have told me. Or someone would have noticed. But then who is your father? It has to be a Moroi, there's no other way….."

She was babbling. I tried to block her out by focusing on my breathing. My hands tensed into fists at my side. What was she saying? Why? All my life. It was the one thing my mother had told me for certain. His name.

I felt Mikhail's hand clench around the back of my neck. I let him guide me over to the closest wall.

"Sit." He said firmly.

I did, slowly sliding my back down the wall.

He walked back to the now silent Queen. Gesturing to her to follow him to the other side of the room.

My breathing slowed. My mother had never lied to me. I would have known. If she didn't want me to know the truth about something then she wouldn't say anything at all. But she had said. She did tell. She told me that Dimitri Belikov is my father. She had told me that my eyes were his brown. Not hers. That he was strong and tall, just like I was. That he was fiercely protective. Just like me.

She told me that I might look so much like her but I took after my father in so many ways. I even believed in the redemption of God, just like him.

But then the Queen wasn't lying either. She obviously believed…..

I stood up. Both of them looked at me at the same time. I folded my arms. Almost so that I couldn't be tempted to lash out.

"I know my mother never lied to me about who my father is." I said calmly.

Mikhail looked like he was about to interrupt me.

"AND, I know that your not lying to me now. But it's only because you truly believe that what your saying is truthful. And that's fine, too. I believe what my mother has told me. You believe what ever the hell you want."

"Dominica." Mikhail said giving me a reproachful look.

"How do you know if I'm telling a lie or not?" The Queen interjected.

Oh crap! Don't look at her. Just keep looking at the floor.

"Wait! Can you tell what I'm thinking?" She asked curiously.

_What_? "No," I looked up confused. Wrinkling my nose just a bit. What if she could. Oh crap.

I closed my eyes. _Where is my mother, where is she? If you can hear me just tell me where she is. She said that you could help. Help me please. Help me find her. _Nothing.

I opened my eyes and both of them were staring at me again. "Can you?"

She sighed, "No, I wish."

She stopped and the room was completely silent.

"Is your mother here? Is she close by?" She sounded almost excited.

"No." I said flatly.

"Is she alright?" Her voice turned concerned.

"I don't know." Which was the truth. She could be dead for all I knew. NO! She wasn't dead. I'd know. Of corse I would.

"Where is she?" She took a few steps closer.

"I DON'T know!" I all but screamed in frustration. "She left. She left me and I don't know why. She wouldn't tell me. Not anything. Then when she was supposed to come back, she didn't. And then I was attacked. In my own house. Like they knew where I'd be and that I'd be there alone. I was so sure I had killed all of them but then one came back. He killed my best friend and his family. They were innocent….."

Don't cry. What will that achieve? Nothing. I held myself tightly. Not letting a single sob escape. Not even a tiny whimper. I had to be strong.

She looked at me in disbelief and shuffled towards me with outreached arms. Like she was making to hug me or something.

I backed away. "Don't."

She stopped abruptly. "You were coming here for help?" She asked.

"I was doing what I was told." I said quietly.

"She told you that I could help?"

"No. She hardly speaks of you. She hardly speaks of anything to do with this world. She left me a note for if I ever got into trouble. It was the first time she had done that. Like she knew….." I saw Mikhail move. His hands diving into his pockets.

I glared at him. I knew he had it. He pulled out the letter my mother had written me. Carefully handing it to the Queen.

"There was one for you, too. And a box thing. It was in my car. I don't know what they did with it. All my stuff was taken from me."

She obviously recognised the handwriting but she had a puzzled look on her face.

"Who are the 'Others'?" She asked. Rereading the letter again.

"Um, you know. The bad ones."

She just looked at me more confused

"The dead ones?"

"You mean the Strigoi?"

I nodded.

"What do they know?" She couldnt know. I had to protect myself. Like my mother had told me. Distractions. Something. Anything.

"What is this, like twenty questions? Can I ask some too? When was the last time you saw my mother?" Maybe this was how I was to shed some light on where she was. Maybe she had told her where she was going. What she was doing. Why?

"I haven't seen your mother since the day she walked out of St. Vladimir Academy on her eighteenth birthday almost seventeen years ago." She said quietly. There was a sadness in her voice.

What the hell? There goes that theory about her secretly coming back here to visit her old friends and family.

I turned away from them, my head clouded and throbbing.

What the hell was she doing, then? Those countless times she had left me with the neighbours so she could disappear for days on end. Without any explanation at all.

And why did she leave this world in the first place. Cut contact cold turkey.

There was a soft rap at the door.

"You sent for me, Your Highness." The accented voice of an older lady echoed from beyond the door.

I flopped down in the nearest arm chair. Drawing my knees under my chin.

The Queen ushered the lady in. She looked like she was fifty-odd, with silver streaks through her short red hair.

Mikhail nodded his head in acknowledgment. "Guardian Hathaway."

"Guardian Tully." Was her reply.

Did he just say Hathaway? My ears pricked up. But I hid my interest. I knew who she was.

"Guardian Hathaway, this is Dominica." The Queen gestured towards me. "Rose's daughter."

Her eyes grew wide and suspicious as she stared at me. I just glared at her not hiding my resentment towards her. This is the woman who practically abandoned my mother at age four to be raised by a boarding school.

She just eyed my. Scanning me up and down. Her eyes critical. She didn't say a word. She just turned around and left the room. Not even acknowledging the Queen.

"Nice to meet you, too, Nan." I muttered.

Mikhail and the queen went back to talking quietly. I kept hearing words like 'moody' and 'broken' and 'help' but I really wasn't focusing too much. I just sat there. Thinking. So much had happened in such a short amount of time.

"What day is it?" I blurted out.

"Its Tuesday, why?" Mikhail said.

"The fifth?"

"No, the twelfth."

I started counting backwards on my hand. My birthday, January eighth. Mum left on the sixth. Movie with Ben on the eighteenth. The fire on the twenty-first. The massacre on the twenty-eighth. It took me three days to drive from Washington to Pennsylvania so I must have arrived here on thirty-first. It had been two days since I first remembered waking up in the hospital. That didn't work out right.

I stared at him. "How long was I unconscious for?" I demanded.

"Ten days." he replied. "Six days from when you first arrived and then you were sedated for another four days after you tried to scratch the psychologists eyes out." He smirked.

I glared at him. It had been too long. Nearly six weeks since my mother had left. Six weeks.

"I've got to go." I whispered.

"Don't start that again, Dominica. We're trying to figure out how best to help you." Mikhail said sternly.

"This!" I screeched wiggling my finger between myself and where they were standing across the room, "is not helping. This is sitting around talking about how fragile I am. How I'm not coping, how I'm so pissed off at the world. Well blah, blah, blah!!" I stood up

"She is sitting in some god damned, stinking hot cave, somewhere, being tortured while we just sit around doing nothing. She kept me half in the dark all my life and when she finally trusted me enough to tell me where you lot were. What do you do. Sit around and talk." My hands were flying around pointing madly in different directions.

I narrowed my eyes, "I knew she had her reasons why she left this place. Reasons I was never privileged enough to know. But I think I can guess. You!" I pointed at the both of them who were silently listening to every word I was saying. "Your all talk and no action. No wonder there aren't many Moroi or Dhampir left. You just sit here in all this… this freaking opulence and let them pick you off."

I paused, trying to control my breathing. It was coming in giant huffs as I sucked in the air. I ran through all what I had just said in my mind. "I'm going to hell." I whispered to myself.

"How do you know she's in a cave?" The queen asked.

Oh no. I said to much again. Don't answer. No. They're already suspicious. Say anything. But don't tell them. "Don't all Strigoi live in caves?" I answered feinting ignorance.

"What is it that your aren't telling us, Dominica?" Mikhail stepped closer to me. I folded my arms again, looking at the floor.

He gave an exasperated sigh.

Yeah, hey by the way, I totally saw my mother tied to a rock in some cave, somewhere. Being tortured, humm yeah, BY MY OWN HAND. But it so wasn't me who did it. No. I was stuck in someone else's head while _they_ did it. Unable to help only to watch. Oh yeah, I forgot, it was probably the _same_ guy who nearly turned me then murdered my best friend and his entire family while I slept. As some sort of sick and twisted show that I was utterly alone in the world. And now, yeah by the way, he is probably still hunting me. That's why he hasn't killed my mother yet. Because he wants to use her to get to me. They always do. That's what I'm keeping from you. I've been hunted most of my life. My mother did her best to keep it from me. But she couldn't shield me forever. And hey, I got the scares to prove it. I probably seen more Strigoi then you Mikhail. Well. No. Scrap that. Probably not you, Mikhail but definitely Amanda and sure as hell definitely more then you Your Highness. When did you see your first Strigoi, Mikhail. After graduation? Late teens? Huh? I saw my first Strigoi when I was barely ten years old. And yeah, do you know what they did. They drank my class. The pair of them sucked the life out of seven little girls and propped them up like dolls to be discovered by me. Then they attacked me. And that was when I knew I was different. "Your not human" she said right before she tried to rip my throat out. Yeah right, I'm not human. Poof, here try that on for size. Yeah you want to eat me too? Here eat this. Flames come out of my fingers. Bet you didn't expect that. Only I cant control it. Not any of it. Not any of it. You know what? You can just shut me the hell up when you've heard enough. I've got stories for hours. For days.

I could feel hot tears streaking noiselessly down my face as I had this internal debate with myself. I turned away from them. But I knew it was too late and both of them had seen.

"We just want to help you, Dominica." Mikhail said quietly taking another step closer.

"I don't need you help," I said definitely. "My mother however does." I wiped away the wetness with the back of my hand. My headache vanished. Like someone had flicked a switch.

_Dominica? _

"Well, where is she? So that we can help her." Now the Queen was getting in on the drive-Demi-to-craziness thing.

"I don't know! How many times do I have to say it before someone believes me?" I paused, "Don't answer that it was a rhetorical question." I was getting frustrated.

_Dominica? _

We just seemed to be talking round in circles.

_Dominica? _

"WHAT!?" I growled.

"Nobody said anything, Dominica." Mikhail said.

"Stop saying my name, like your trying to get into my head."

_They can't hear me, Dominica. _

I froze.

_Dominica._

I closed my eyes.

_We know your different. _

I pressed my palms into my temples.

_Dommmminnniiicccaaa._

I dug my nails in. Get out of my head.

_We're going to find you……_

Get out of my head

_Where ever you are….._

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!." I screamed.

"Mikhail, grab her. She hurting herself." The Queens voice seem distant.

I felt Mikhail's hand encircle my wrists. I didn't fight.

I just sobbed. "Make him stop…."

_They cant help you…_

My heart wouldn't stop pounding.

_Ha ha haa haaaa haaaaa _

"She's bleeding!" The queen gasped.

"Its just a nose bleed." Mikhail said trying to reassure her.

_Be seeing you real soon, Dominica. _

The voice disappeared, but my headache returned with a vengeance. I collapsed against Mikhail's warm chest sobbing quietly. Why wont they just leave me alone. I became aware of red smears along his white shirt. I pulled back. "Your bleeding, Mikhail."

"No, kid. I'm not." He paused, "You are." He pushed me down to the nearest chair, pulling something from his pocket and pressing it to my nose.

I felt dizzy and sick. Like I could pass-out and vomit at the same time.

"You need to explain what happened just now, Dominica." He pressed.

"Don't call me that. Please!" I whispered. That voice. HE kept saying my name. "Just call me Demi, it doesn't hurt so much."

I think. Maybe. No one said anything for what seemed an eternity. But they were both waiting for some sort of explanation for my erratic behaviour.

"You used to have a bond with her. A connection. Right?" I slowly asked the Queen.

She looked confused. But nodded.

"She could hear your thoughts? Feel what you felt? See what you saw?"

She nodded again, "How did you know?"

"She told me about it once. How much she hated it. That it was an invasion of privacy. For you and sometimes even for her."

Where is this going. Not the truth. No. The Queen didn't look happy. Like she was remembering something that wasn't happy.

"I'm just tired. That's all. I haven't been sleeping well. I've been having nightmares." I stood up.

They both frowned at me and I wrinkled my nose back at them. It had stopped bleeding now.

"I'm a little tired now. Can I go back to the room?" I directed my question at Mikhail who sighed. I was tired again, but I doubt that I could sleep anytime soon unless I was very much more sleep deprived. I didn't want to close my eyes. But then I didn't want to keep them open either. I couldn't win.

Welcome to the doll house, Demi. Where all your nightmares are real. Really real.

He took the lead, nodding to the Queen as we both passed.

"Bye." Was all I said.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: I do not own VA or Twilight or any other book/TVshows/movies that I may or may not have referenced in this piece. **

**Chapter 12. Welcome to my life.**

He led me back to the room without a word. The window had a huge metal sheet spot welded to it, covering where I had broken through and all the glass had been removed. Gee, they're nothing if not efficient.

"You hungry?" he asked me without even looking at me.

I just shook my head. I was really craving the red stuff but I was obviously under lockdown and whatever I needed he was going to bring to me.

"The Queen has assigned me as your temporary guardian."

I rolled my eyes at his statement. I think he caught me.

"She thinks someone should keep a permanent eye on you. She doesn't want you to try to run off again."

Great, house arrest. And I thought that being locked up alone was frustrating. But to have a permanent tag along attached to my hip. Well that's just great. Not to mention, to have someone keeping tabs on when I slept, when I ate, when I went to the freaking bathroom, when I wake up screaming from a nightmare, when I slip into someone else's head for a nice little torture session with my mother or when they do the same to torture me.

Fan-freaking-tastic that it just so happened to be Mikhail as well. One of the only ones who had seen me at my weakest, sobbing and trembling and talking to myself. Humph. HE must think I'm crazy.

"She also said that you should keep a low profile."

I turned when he said that. "Why?"

"Well," he paused as if he was trying to word he reply. "Guardian Belikov is somewhat a legend around here. He is like a hero, especially for what he did when the Strigoi launched that huge attack on St. Vladimir's. He gave his life for the cause. Your mother on the other hand…." He stopped again.

"What?" I frowned.

"She is somewhat of a disgrace. People still remember her, only for different reasons. She was Queen Vasilisa's best friend growing up and was destined to be her guardian when she graduated. They remember her running off only weeks before she was supposed to graduate. They say that, in the end, she didn't want to become a guardian. That she was afraid."

"Oh," I said quietly. I couldn't imagine my mother being afraid of anyone or running away from anything. She always stepped up to the plate and had taught me to do the same.

"And if you start telling people that they are your parents. It might rub people the wrong way."

Humph. "You mean, people will think I'm more crazy then I already am?"

He didn't say anything.

__________________________________________________________________________________

"Your going to visit the Doctor this morning."

His voice broke through my daydream. I was lying sprawled out on the couch thinking about my dream stalker and how lately whenever he showed up I would be pulled out of the dream with him into a really horrible one. Somehow I didn't believe it was coincidence. And ever since the last encounter I had been terrified to sleep. Thinking that I might get sucked back into the mind of my mother's torturer.

"What for?" I asked annoyed.

"She has to take the stitches out from your side."

Oh! I had almost forgotten about them. Almost. Except I kept pulling them out myself. My side hardly hurt anymore. The occasional twinge when I bent awkwardly but that's it.

"Get dressed," He said as he chucked a fresh pile of clothes on my lap.

Grr. This was getting old. It hadn't even been 24 hours since I had seen the Queen and already her edict was really starting to piss me off.

"A little privacy would be nice." I said sarcastically. Which seemed to make up the baulk of my vocabulary lately.

Oh no you just did not! I couldn't believe it. He just turned around! Jerk! Grrr!

I threw my boot at him. Which he must have anticipated because he ducked. "Nice, Mikhail. Would you please GET THE HELL OUT! Its not like I'm going to melt through the big sheet of metal." I paused, maybe I could if I concentrated long enough and hard enough. I shook my head.

"Fine, but I'm not closing the door all the way." He had a smirk on his face. He tried to hide it but I saw the corners of his cheeks pulled up.

"Fine!"

I unfolded the clothes he had brought me. More black? I groaned inwardly. Were there absolutely no other colours in this place. I pulled on the black slacks and then the black long sleeve v-neck. Least he remembered that I like long sleeve. I threw the dirty clothes into the corner of the room and picked up my stray boot.

Least I could lace them myself, now that my side didn't hurt that much.

"Ready." I said as I pushed through the door. Amanda was standing beside Mikhail talking softly.

"You know Mikhail," I mused, "you really are going to have to get me a bra with the next laundry drop. Otherwise these puppies are going to start getting closer to my knees any day now."

Amanda looked away. And he blushed.

I was so going to hell.

So I pushed it even further, "Preferably not in black, though. You know what they say about girls who wear black underwear."

I so heard Amanda snicker. Mission accomplished. He must have blushed twice as hard. Good. If I was going to have to be inconvenienced and embarrassed then so should he.

"Lets go." He said gruffly after a moment of awkward silence.

So we started out. Amanda following closely behind me. I glanced at her. She was in full guardian mood.

"Why are you here?" I asked her.

"Mikhail has some business to attend to whilst your in seeing the Doc. He asked me to escort you back if he's not back in time."

I hadn't told either of them that I had pulled a whole bunch of the stitches out during my shower last night and that there was probably only 10 or so left that I couldn't get to.

But they led me nonetheless down several flights of stairs. And back through the long connecting corridors and into the main lobby slash reception area. It was at this point that Mikhail slouched off somewhere and Amanda took the lead.

I followed her down that blue hallway that headed towards the hospital wing, through the double doors that were the entrance. She went straight up to the nurses station and spoke softly to the pale nurse behind the counter. I stood back, arms folded, staring at the stark whiteness that I was surrounded by.

Another nurse came and Amanda started to follow. Guess I was expected to as well. I sighed. The nurse led us to an examination room. Told us to wait her for the doctor and left.

I scouted the room, no windows, one door in, one door out. There was an examination table against one wall with a row of light boxes above it and one of those hideous floral curtains tied up to one side. Across on the opposite wall stood another row of light boxes and a row of refrigerated cupboards.

"Sorry about yesterday," I said, "about how I went all…" I stopped.

She casually looked at me.

"Crazy."

"It's all right, kid. No harm done." Was her reply.

"I'm sixteen, you know. Not a kid. More of a hormonal teenager. Anyway what are you, like, six months older then me?" I grinned at her.

She rolled her eyes in the playful way adults do when they humouring those younger then themselves. "I'm twenty-three just like Mikhail."

"So are you two like a…. thing?" I asked smugly. It would explain why she was always hanging around.

"No," She answered a little too fast. Like maybe she wanted something more but wasn't able to get it.

I covered up a grin. Before I could ask anything else the doctor walked in. I didn't recognise her. She was short with long orangy brown hair. She was really pale like she had never been in the sun at all. Of corse she was a Moroi. I still couldn't get over how the Moroi's all looked. They were way too close to what a Strigoi looks like.

Amanda left, saying strictly that she was just outside.

"So, Dominica, I'm Dr Trulizky. You're here to have your stitches out." She said. She may have been in her forties but her voice was musical like bells.

"Um, yeah, about that." I said cautiously.

When I showed her that I had pulled out most of them myself she gave me a disapproving look.

She asked me to lie down flat on my stomach on the examination bed so that she could get to the ones on my back. I pulled my shirt up just above the wound line.

"Hang on a sec, hon. Wont be a moment, just need to prepare." She said casually. I watched her as she went to the other side of the room. She pulled a number of things out of the draws and then something out of the refrigerated section. Before its door closed fully something caught my eye.

Humm. Could it be?

She snapped on a pair of gloves. "Now, this wont hurt, its just rubbing alcohol."

She wiped something cold and wet along my back. A shiver crept over me. I could hear the tiny snipping of her scissors and the gentle pull on my skin.

"There." She announced a few minuted later. "All done. Now you will still have to keep the wound clean but its pretty much all healed. Just be careful. Okey?"

I nodded as I pushed myself up from the table.

She started clearing up the little mess she had accumulated shoving a bunch of things into a big yellow bin. "I'll be back soon."

This was my chance. I launched myself forward to the opposite side on the room. I pulled the refrigerated cupboard open and there, on the top shelf, sat a dozen or so packets of the red stuff. I felt instant relief but I had to control myself. I couldn't just grab one and rip into it. I'd go all fuzzy and then they would know something was wrong.

I had to wait til I was alone…yeah right. I was never alone. Not with Mikhail watching my every move and Amanda when he wasn't.

Maybe I could pretend I was asleep. Come on, Demi. This is your only chance! I grabbed two packs, stuffing them down the front of my underwear.

"What are you doing?"

Busted! But it wasn't the Doctor. It was Amanda. Crap!

"Nothing" I answered quickly. But the fridge door gave me away, slamming shut as I turned.

Crap, Crap, Crap! Crazy alert! Yeah I was just helping myself to a snack for later. That's all. No biggie.

"Yeah right!, What are you hiding?"

Crap! I just looked at the floor. But that was an obvious sign that I was hiding something. Grr! I couldn't lie. I hung my head in shame.

She held out her hand. I reached into my underwear and pulled out the offending packets slapping them into her hand.

The doctor came back into the room oblivious to mine and Amanda's exchange. Amanda tucked the packets under her arm hiding them from the doctor.

"Okey, just sign this and you can go." Dr Trulizky said placing a folder on the examination table.

"What the hell?" She asked disbelievingly, as we walked back down the corridor. "Why would you want these?" I looked up, she had a strange look on her face.

I must have had a hungry look on my face or something because she gasped.

"Umm…see….umm….I…..I kinda have these strange cravings sometimes. But not all the time. Umm…That stuff helps, a lot." I faced away from her. My face burning with redness

She said nothing more as she led me through the rabbit wren of hallways back to the room.

__________________________________________________________________________________

When Mikhail met us back at the room about an hour later, Amanda just threw the two satchels of blood at him and said, "You need to take your girl to the feeders." And then she left.

I didn't know what she meant by that. What was a feeder?

Mikhail had that strange look on his face again. The one that told me that I had done something not normal.

"This is what we were talking about, Dominica. You need to tell someone about these things." He chided. "It probably explains why you haven't been eating."

"And probably why I'm acting like a loony, too." I muttered.

"Get up," He said.

I was currently sitting on the floor under the window or at least what use to be the window. I pushed my self off the floor.

"Where we going?" I asked curiously.

"To the feeders."

I didn't get it, "What's a feeder?" I asked as he led me back downstairs.

"They are humans that allow the Moroi to take small amounts of blood from." He explained.

Errr! That's gross! People willingly let other people 'snack' on them. That's so wrong.

He must have seen the disgusted look on my face, "It doesn't hurt them, It's more," he paused, "pleasurable for them. They get a high form it."

"Wait!" I stopped following, "you want me to do that??" I spat. "To bite someone?"

No. No. No. _No_. No freaking way. Not a freaking chance. I didn't want to hurt anyone. It would be like me turning into a Strigoi! Feeding off some poor innocent person. And Yuck! No way.

"How did you get your blood before, then?" He asked.

"My mum," I stammered, "She always had a lot of money. A trust fund or something. She'd buy stock piles of the red stuff. But its not like I'd have to drink every day. Like I told Amanda, I'd just get these cravings once in a while. It helps make them go away."

"So you have never taken blood from another person?"

"Yuck! No way. I'm not a monster! I don't want to hurt anyone!" I said a little to loudly.

He came close to me, right up in my face. "Keep your voice down!" He said sternly. "Besides, Moroi do it everyday."

"I'm not a Moroi!" I protested.

"No. No your not. But that's besides the point. If this is what you need then this is how you do it. We cant have you stealing medical supplies. People would grow suspicious."

"Yeah cause the daughter of two Dhampir's isn't already a head turner." I said sarcastically.

He grew silent and his face suddenly sullen.

"Oh come on, don't try to act all holier then thou. I invented that trick." I said referring to his silence. "What aren't you telling me?"

He shifted closer to me. So that he was merely inches away from me. He pulled us both over to the closest wall. "The Queen is digging," He said in a barely audible voice.

I frowned, "For what?"

He sighed. "She seems to think that you're not who you say you are."

Huh? Why would I lie?

"No, let me rephrase that. She seems to think that you're not who you think you are."

And they thought that I was crazy. "I don't understand." I whispered.

"She thinks that….that maybe…" He paused as a man with dark skin passed by us. "She thinks that maybe you _are _a Moroi, that Rose Hathaway took you as an infant to raise you as her own after loosing the love of her life. She's trying to prove that theory by sifting through archive records from around the time she disappeared."

That's crazy, "That's crazy!"

"Well," he sighed again. "Some of the pieces fit. The story about having two Dhampir's for parents, why she cut contact with everyone and why you two constantly moved around. It makes sense to her. And now your need for blood. "

"But not to you. Otherwise you wouldn't have said anything to me about it. Am I right?"

"You're too strong to be a Moroi. Physically, I mean. I've been on the tail end of one of your hits and it was strong. Your skin," He grabbed my hand turning it in his own. "its rough and worn. And tanned. Moroi cant go out in the sun for long periods of time. It makes them weak." he trailed off.

"You're definitely one of a kind, Dominica." I blushed. That was probably the only nice thing that he had said to me since I had met him. He dropped my hand as another man walked past in the opposite direction.

"But you're not helping your cause by not telling us certain things."

Yeah he was fishing. I rolled my eyes. "Fine! What do you want to know? I'll try to be….open?" It sounded more like a question. And I would. Try to be open. He was growing on me. In an annoying sort of way. I think I trusted him, at least more then I did the Queen.

"Not now. We have to get you to a feeder. Before you start acting all crazy again." He said it in a light tone but I knew he was completely serious.

He took lead again and I trailed behind him. I still did not like the idea of me BITTING some poor person. We took a familiar route leading through the frosted double doors of the cafeteria. There was another room on the other side of the large open space of the cafeteria.

It was sectioned off by half walls into several small rooms about the same size as an office cubical. There were a few other people waiting in a small sitting area and a tall Moroi lady with a clip board approached us tentatively.

She didn't say anything. But Mikhail did, "Dominica Belikov." He said. She nodded writing something down on her clip board.

Mikhail told me to sit whilst we waited. My stomach was flipping out. Not only at the thought that I was going to be getting some of the red stuff soonish but also the fact that I was going to have to bite someone to get it. I had never done it like that before. I had only ever had my blood come in tiny plastic satchels with a whole bunch of writing on the side. Never from a living, breathing person.

I was nervous, Mikhail kept shooting me reassuring looks. Yeah right, that's so helping….

A few more people came in and were waiting with us in that little sitting area whilst the ones that were waiting before us slowly dwindled as their names were called and they disappeared down the hallway.

I didn't even hear my name being called. I was to busy trying to control my stomach as it somersaulted about. Mikhail nudged me, "Come on."

__________________________________________________________________________________

The piercing scream echoed off the surrounding walls. I jerked up dropping the feeders hand. She wouldn't stop, she held her hand to her chest and scrambled as far away from me as she could. Pain. That's what she felt. I had caused her pain. I had barely broke the skin of her hand and I certainly hadn't been able to taste any of her blood. It was like my bite filled her with a poison that caused her terrific agony.

I couldn't move. I just stared at her. Watching her with some kind of morbid fascination as she withered in pain. Mikhail was by her side trying to comfort her. The lady with the clipboard rushed in, pushing me to the side.

This is why my mother had never let me drink from anyone. I _was_ a monster!! I hurt people. Not even intentionally. It was my nature.

My breath hitched as my chest tightened. I felt the urge to run again. To put distance between myself and the rest of the world. My mother had always understood me. Never judged me.

But now they had her. _HIM_.

No one would understand. I was a freak. That's why she had stayed away. Kept us away. She knew that I was too different to be accepted into this….this society.

More people came into the little cubical. So I took my chance to escape. Slipping out between two big guardians who had come to see what all the noise was.

I walked quickly back through the waiting room and stole out into the giant cafeteria. I knew there were plenty of ways out of here. I had spotted glass doors leading outside from my last visit to the cafeteria. I didn't care it was still raining. All it ever seemed to do here was rain.

**AN: I know, i know. It's taken a whole lot longer with this chapter. It's just so hard to write with Dominica acting all crazy in the head. But dont dispair I wont abandon poor Dominica in her time of need. Plus you guys need to find out where the hell Rose is, how Lissa became the Queen *ahemcompulsionahem*, who that sick saddist is that keeps popping into Dominica's pretty little head and, the big one, how the hell did two Dhampirs manage to procreate and produce a fun little crazy friend. Answers are like bubbles. I gather them up and share them only with friends. (Psst... friends leave reviews) *ahemreviewahem***


	13. Dear Lissa,

__________________________________________________________________________________

_Lissa,_

_This is my daughter. _

_If she is there then it was unavoidable. I tried to keep her sheltered, away from this world. But unfortunately you know what they say about the best laid plans. _

_She is strong. Just like me. Just like her father. But…_

_She is unique amongst the unique. _

_I trust your judgment. Please keep her safe and calm. Don't let her make the same mistakes I have. _

_Rose~_

_P.S. This still does__n't change anything. _

____________________________________________________________________________________


	14. Chapter 13

**AN: I do not own VA or Twilight or Happy Meals or any other book/TVshows/movies that I may or may not have referenced in this piece. **

**Chapter 13. [Untitled] Stop making plans. Start making sense**

It was killing me. The thought that I had damaged her in such a way that she was probably going to be put away in a mental home made my head pound with such ferocity that I kept seeing those black spots dance around the edge of my vision. I had practically begged Mikhail not to let me do it. But he insisted that she would get some pleasure from my biting her.

How wrong he was.

I kind of resented him for making me believe that what I was doing was okay. I keep hearing his voice in my head. 'It will be fine, Moroi feed this way everyday.'

My mother obviously knew that something like this would happen. That's why she never let my drink like that, from anyone. She knew me so well.

No. She knows me well. She is still alive. Though, I refuse to shut my eyes, in case I slipped back into that other mind.

I lay slouched up against the tree. Rain dripped through the canopy pooling in small puddles around me. Mikhail was right, I didn't have any place else to go. It was stupid and fool hearty to try to leave. I trusted him, only a little, but enough to believe he really did have my best interest at heart.

But I wasn't going back there, yet. I had run with all the energy I could muster as I left the doors of the Cafeteria. Not even watching where I was running to. Greenery had flashed past. I ended up, who knows where; slumped up against the tree with my back to the direction I had run from. The rain mixed into the silent tears that I refused to acknowledge tumbling down my face.

I hated myself more and more. Why the hell did I have to be so different? What kind of sick, cosmic joke was god playing? Making me so different from everyone. The rain pelted faster. Soaking me right through.

What was I thinking? I shouldn't blame him. HE, who had a plan for everyone, a plan for me. I shouldn't judge what he had in store for me, it was his plan.

But I could still go crazy trying to figure it out! My head spun so I tilted it back towards the tree trunk.

If only my mother had never went away. Maybe if I had begged her to stay for my birthday or to stay for my first week of school, none of this would ever have happened.

Arrg! Who was I kidding? My mother was stubborn. I could have begged on my knees, kissing her toes and she still would have left. I would give anything to know where she was and why she left.

Why? Why? Why?

I had that feeling of wanting to hit something again. I stood, faced the tree and let a barrage of punches fly at it. One, two, bits of bark flying in all directions, One, two; Until my knuckles were a bloody mess.

"Aww, what did that poor tree ever do to you?" It was a voice I didn't recognise. Well not right away. I turned my head to the direction where it came from. Panting and leaning my broken knuckles against the tree trunk. I was assaulted by a cloud of smoky stink.

My dream stalker.

No. NO! I couldn't have fallen asleep. I backed away from him. He was leaning against a nearby tree, dripping wet and puffing away on his stupid, stinky cigarettes.

I didn't want to be pulled back into the mind of my mother's torturer. His appearance seemed to be the prelude to that. I had to wake up.

I shook my head from side to side as if that was going to rouse me. My dream stalker wore an odd expression as he sucked down another mouthful of smoke.

"I don't want to go back! You can make me!" I shouted at him. I turned to run again slamming into something solid that wasn't there a moment ago.

Mikhail? "I don't dream about you." I mumbled into his shoulders. "He can't make me go back there. I don't want to." I sounded like a scared child and that's exactly how I felt.

"I don't want to see her like that again. I want to wake up." I pleaded. "I have to wake up." I pushed myself away from Mikhail.

"Little Belikov, you are awake." My dream stalker said quietly whilst taking a step closer to me. He dropped his cigarette stomping on it as he walked.

The rain poured harder dripping from my hair and my eye lashes. I just stood between the two of them. Was this real? Was I really awake? I couldn't tell. Why am I so screwed up?

I decided. "No, I'm dreaming. You're not real!!" I shouted pointing to my dream stalker. I turned away from them both, my hands clenching into fists and my head hanging low. "Wake up, Demi, Wake up now." I repeated over and over.

I'm crazy. Insane. Not in possession of ones faculties. A few fries short of a freaking happy meal!!!!! No, no, no, no, no…….

He isn't real! Nothing is real anymore. It cant be! It isn't real.

Large, well built arms circled around me from behind. "It's okay, Dominica. Shhh…" Mikhail pulled me closer.

"I don't know what's real anymore." I sobbed.

"He," I jerked my head around, "isn't real. He is someone who annoys me in my dreams. NOT real, nothing is!"

Mikhail turned me around in his arm and looked directly at me. He grabbed my hand with his and pressed it to his face. I felt the warmth of it with my cold hand. "I'm real." He whispered.

"I hate that I'm so screwed up." I whispered back, leaning closer to him.

_____________________________________________________________________

**Mikhail ~**

"It's okay, Dominica. Shhh…"

I held her as she sobbed into my chest. What the hell had he said to her?

"I don't know what's real anymore." She whimpered.

I had tried to follow her when she had left the feeders but I was caught up trying to explain what had happened. Though, I spotted Ivashkov slinking out through the cafeteria. I knew he knew where she was.

He had been asking too many questions ever since he had spotted Guardian Palmer pulling her into the bathroom in hysterics.

And here he was again.

She had the same tortured look on her face as the day I first saw her. "He," she twisted in my arms to look at Ivashkov, "isn't real. He is someone who annoys me in my dreams. Not real, nothing is!" She said breathlessly.

This poor kid was so messed up. And I was angry. What the hell had Ivashkov said to her to make her act like this? I shot him an infuriated look.

She tried to push me away. But I turned her around in my arms so that she could see me. It broke my heart to see the look she gave me. One of absolute terror. She was so afraid of everything and everyone that she couldn't see that I only wanted to help her. I grabbed her hand and pressed it to my face. Her fingers were ice cold. "I'm real." I whispered.

Shock and recognition spread across her face. Her breathing slowed, she was slowly calming down. She pressed herself closer to me. "I hate that I'm so screwed up." She mumbled into my chest.

I wanted to hold her. I wanted to protect her. I wanted to hide her away from the world just like her mother did so that she wouldn't be like this. So scared, frightened and confused.

_______________________________________________________________________________

My legs refused to work on their own accord so he half carried me; half dragged me back to Court. I was sopping wet and kept slipping from his grasp. He led me on an unfamiliar route back to the room. I suspected so as not to be seen.

When we finally reached the room he deposited me on the bed and wrapped the throw rug from the couch around my shoulders. He pulled one of the dining chairs and sat directly in front of me with his large hands on my knees.

I was trembling. Shaking. Though, not from the cold. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was completely insane. I was seeing things, hurting people, I wish it would all just stop. I wish I would just stop.

A fresh wave of tears started falling.

He had a look of absolute sympathy stretched across his face. He just kept staring at me. As if by just looking he would understand what was happening to me. I'll give him that. He acted like he so desperately wanted to know what was going on in my head. And I felt the urge to tell him. Only I didn't know exactly what _was_ going on in my head.

I sniffed. He pulled me into his arms again. I felt safe and warm. Just like when Ben…

I stiffened up and struggled against his grip. I didn't deserve anyone to be nice to me. I was a monster. People had died because of me. I hurt people.

He released me but he looked hurt and confused. I couldn't look at him so I folded myself up into a ball, lying on my side, on the bed. I didn't care that I was still really wet. I started sobbing again. Why couldn't I keep myself calm?

I've never felt such turmoil in my emotions before. Nothing happy. It was fear, hate, loathing, and regret; all of the above.

__________________________________________________________________________________

**Mikhail ~**

It was awhile before her sobbing stopped. She was still shaking though, curled up on the bed and she definitely wasn't sleeping. I turned the heat up in the room in the hopes that it would dry both her and me out. I didn't want to leave the room with her in such a fragile state. Who knows what she would do. Most likely try to run away again.

She shifted once more. Turning and looking at me. I was still sitting in the chair I had pulled over from the dining table. I was resting my elbows on my knees and I was just watching her slowly breathing. She looked straight at me. Her eyes filled with a longing, or something.

Maybe she was still craving blood. Craving Blood? A unique turn of events. The daughter of a Dhampir, craving blood. Unheard of in our world. If you're alive and you drink blood, then you're a Moroi. If you're dead and you drink blood, then you're a Strigoi. It was clear cut. Black and White. No room for interpretation.

Dominica was unique.

And she _was_ the daughter of a Dhampir. I had taken the liberty of doing some of my own research and had come across an Academy year book from when her mother was a school girl.

The resemblance was uncanny. The same dark hair, the same dark eyes and the same skin tone. About the only difference I could see is that in the picture her mother was smiling. I had never seen Dominica smile. Grimace, maybe. But never smile.

I flipped out my phone and started texting a message to Amanda.

'_manda could you please get_

_Your hands on some of those_

_Little packets that Dominica _

_Had this morning? _

_Mikhail~ _

If any one was resourceful enough to get satchels of blood at a moments notice then it was her. I shoved my phone back into my pocket.

I knew that Dominica would never want to try drinking from a feeder again. At least this way she could eliminate the cravings and maybe show me another side of herself. A less tense and afraid side.

She came through for me. Less then half an hour after I sent her the text message there was a soft knock on the door. I got up and opened it. She just stood there. Not wanting to come in. She thrust two packets into my hand.

"Heard what happened at the feeders…what did she do?" She asked not once looking at me.

"That's just it. I was there the whole time. She didn't do anything. She didn't even draw any blood before that old wench of a feeder started screaming. And to make matters worse, when she took off, fucking Adrian Ivashkov spotted her and followed her." I tried to keep my voice low.

"What the hell is his fascination with her?" She asked finally meeting my gaze.

"I don't know. But he scared the hell outta her. Look." I shifted enough that she could see the shaking figure on the bed.

"Shit! She alright?" She was concerned.

"I don't know that either. I really don't think she is. She kept saying that she doesn't know what's real anymore. I don't know if I can snap her out of it." She looked at me with sympathy.

"Maybe the blood will help her." She turned to leave. "Let me know if you need anything else, okey?"

"Yeah, okey." I lowed my head as I closed the door.

_________________________________________________________________________________

I hate that he looks at me like that. Pity. That's what that look was. He pitied me.

Amanda was here just moments ago and she had the same look. Pull yourself together, Demi. Mum wouldn't want you to act like this. She'd want you to be strong. And Brave. And to stop freaking crying. STOP FREAKING CRYING.

I felt the bed go down behind me. Mikhail. God. I'm such a freak.

He put his hand on the top of my arms and dropped something just in front of where my head was laying.

He didn't say a word as he got up off the bed. Nor did he say anything as I heard the door open and close. He left me alone for the first time in days.

I pushed myself up off the bed the still wet clothes itching at my skin. I had to change. Mikhail had cleared out one of the draws for me to put my small collection of clothes in. So I pulled out the first thing that my hands reached. A black three-quarter v-neck and black sweats. I didn't really like the top much because it didn't cover my arms. But the likelihood of me exiting this room today or any day in the near future were slim and none.

I changed quickly. Anticipation took over. Venom pooled in my mouth. What? What did I just think? Venom. _Venom. _

I shrugged. Makes sense. That's why I hurt that lady. When I bit her. The feeder. But I had the sudden urge to spit. Of course I didn't. That's just gross.

I sat back down on the bed, propping myself up against the headboard with pillows. I unfastened both of the little plastic stoppers on the packets and drank deeply letting the fuzzy feeling take over.

__________________________________________________________________________________

**Mikhail~**

I left her alone. I thought that she needed it. Some time alone without someone peering over her shoulder. That alone would have driven me insane.

So I left her alone to drink. I knew the even some Moroi preferred to be alone when they drunk. It was somewhat personal experience.

And I needed to follow up some things. I made my way to the Guardian Head Office to check my schedule. It was on the other side of the Court so I cut through the open grassed area in the middle. The rain had almost stopped when I reached the doors of the office. I checked my pidgin hole, pulling out several neatly typed memos and an envelope with my name printed in fluid script on the front.

_**Memo ~ All Guardians are reminded that the grassed area in the centre of the court is not the place for horseplay or tomfoolery. Guardian's caught participating in any waywardness will be disciplined accordingly. **_

What? Did they think that we were children? Tomfoolery? Who uses such archaic language?

I flipped to the next one.

_**Memo~ Guardian Tully – All duties are currently on suspension on order of the Queen.**_

WHAT?!? What the hell? Why are all my duties suspended? I scrunched the piece of paper back up, threw it into the nearest trash bin and shoved the envelope into my back pocket.

It must have been this morning, when I spoke to her again. She did seem a little shocked at my suggestion that Dominica go back to school. Well not just any school. An Academy.

She had been cooped up at the Court for too long. She had been on a training schedule and it had prac tally gone out the window since she arrived here. I for one wanted to see what she could really do. Aside from having a right hook like a freight train and being able to evade capture for the most part.

If what she had said was the complete truth then she had single handedly taken out two Strigoi, two of their humans and fought off a third Strigoi. That was good in anyone's books.

And somehow I don't think that that was the first time, either. Something about those scares on her hand.

I knew the Queen didn't think she was telling the truth. That somehow she was lying. And now this.

Was I going to get reassigned just because I said she needed to be in school? She was familiar with me and still very weary of anyone else. I don't think she could handle a change in guardian. But she needed something to take her mind of everything that's happened.

I was definitely going to have a word to someone about this. But not yet.

I had been gone for close to fifteen minutes, long enough for Dominica to finish drinking.

I crossed the grassed area again. The sun peaked out from behind the clouds for the first time in ages. I made my way back up to the room opening the door slowly. There weren't any sounds at all as I scanned the room looking for Dominica. I couldn't see her, but she couldn't have gone far, but she wasn't visible. I stalked around the room.

Oh my! She was lying on the floor concealed from the doorway by the bed. A small puddle of blood pooled by her side, her lips were crimson red and her eyes were closed. I leant in to feel for a pulse.

I snapped my phone open and pressed three on speed dial.

"Amanda! Get up here now! Dominica doesn't have a pulse."


	15. Audio Tape One

She pulled out one of the many cassette tapes from the ornately carved box and placed it in the player before pressing play.

**AUDIO~ **

**Miss Hathaway?**

_**Rose.**_

**Rose, dear. We've started a new program called Miracle Voices. **

_**Miracle Voices? **_

**Yes, what we do is voice record the entire experience so you have a sort of memento. **

_**Ouch! *pant***_

**You'll be one of our first clients so this wont cost you a thing.**

_**Why *pant* would *pant* anyone *pant* want to *pant* remember this? Owww! **_

**It's a special time in you and your baby's life. You'll be glad you did this. **

_**Fine. What ever. Just get the Fuck away from me. *pant* **_

(fast forward)

**Doctor, she's further along then we thought. Honey, don't push! **

_***Inaudible* It hurts!**_

**Just breath through it. DON'T Push!**

_**I cant. Arg! **_

**Doctor, there is too much blood. **

**Move! **

**Rose! Just relax! Please! **

_***Inaudible* Get it out! Get it out now!**_

**Get a heart monitor on her. She is stressing. **

**Focus Rose. Just breath. **

_**Go to hell. I hate you Lissa! You did this to me! *groans* I wanr Dimitri! **_

***beep beep beep* **

**The heads crowning. **

***beep beep***

***screams* **

**Doctor, she's unconscious. **

***beep* **

***baby's wail***

***flat line* **

**She's flat lining! Get the crash cart. **

**(**fast forward)

***thrump* **

**Its no use. She's gone. *sigh***

***ruffling* **

**(**fast forward)

**What are you doing? **

**This is the first and last chance for this little one to know her mother. She should at least be held by her, once. **

**She's dead. What does it matter. **

**She all she had. **

**No family?**

**None.**

**You should call child services. **

***beep* **

**What's that? **

***beep beep* **

**Take the child out of here.**

***beep beep beep* **

***gasp* **

The tape stoped. "Oh my god," Lissa gasped.


	16. Chapter 14

**AN: I do not own VA or Twilight or Happy Meals or Nutella or any other book/TVshows/movies that I may or may not have referenced in this piece. **

**Chapter 14. Its not okey, but we're alright. **

"How long has she been like this?" Amanda asked breathlessly between compressions.

I had started CPR as soon as I got off the phone to her and she had been here in less then 5 minutes.

"I left her alone for fifteen maybe twenty minutes. But I don't understand, she hasn't been breathing for at least five minutes probably longer and she's not blue." I was confused.

The lack of oxygen should surely had started her skin tingeing blue even with CPR but her skin was still that perfect olive brown tone.

"Breath."

I pushed another lungful of air into her mouth as Amanda stuck her fingers on the side of her neck.

"I can feel something but it's so infrequent. Can you carry her to the medical centre?" She looked at me questioningly.

I scooped her up as gently as I could manage and followed Amanda out the door.

It was very late, or early depending on how you looked at it and the sun was blazing through the windows of the lobby as we sprinted through.

I kicked the double doors open with one foot scaring the nurse at the nurses station.

"Oh my!" She gasped. "Here," she motioned to an empty gurney in a curtained off area.

A doctor had appeared literally out of nowhere and started to examine her. Pressing her stethoscope to Dominica's chest.

"How long has she been like this?" She shot at me.

"I don't know. When I found her, she wasn't breathing and she didn't have a pulse." I answered breathlessly. "I started CPR straight away. But it was like her lungs had seized up and refused to work."

"Is she allergic to anything?"

"I don't know"

"Has this happened before?"

"I don't think so. But I cant be sure."

She had fixed Dominica's head back in a tilted position and had inserted a tube down her throat. It took her less then a minute, like lightening. She then proceeded to attach a heart monitoring machine via several strategically placed sticky dots with wires.

The machine came to life but her heart beat was incredibly low registering about 10 to 15 beats per minute.

"There's blood on her shirt. Was she bleeding?" The doctor asked.

"No, she was feeding. She must have dropped the satchel when she collapsed." I said brushing away stray strands from her face.

I watched as she attached a blood pressure cuff to her arm.

"You said she was feeding?" She asked looking directly at me.

"Yeah, that's right." I had given her two satchels of blood before I left. By the look of it she had gotten through the first one and half way through the second one.

"Her records don't say that she is a Moroi." She shot me a look that was half confused and half pissy, "In fact they say that she is the daughter of a Dhampir. Care to explain?" She flipped through a chart.

"Look, she's stable for now. But she could lapse at any moment. If you know something, then I need to know. To help her."

"Its complicated." I replied not looking at her. I think I have been hanging around Dominica a bit too long, picking up on her bad habits.

She sighed frustratedly and turned to Amanda who was standing by silently. She held her hands palm up to the doctor as if to say 'don't ask me'.

__________________________________________________________________________________

A few hours.

I watched her. Amanda left for her duties but now that I'm suspension I have plenty of time to just watch her.

They had put her in a private room on my insistence. Though, I went to a lot of trouble with the doctor trying to convince her not to call other 'authorities' in this case promising that as soon as Dominica was awake that she would provide an explanation for all of us. I hope I was right.

Her heart beat steadily increased and her blood pressure slowly came back down. Her breathing improved and she was soon breathing on her own. They removed the tube from her throat before she fully regained consciousness so not to traumatise her.

She looked like she was sleeping.

"I believe her."

I hadn't heard anyone come in.

"That box you brought me yesterday. I believe her."

It was the queen.

"You would not believe what was in there." She whispered.

She pulled out a few scraps of paper throwing them on my lap. She wasn't looking at me, instead staring unblinking at the unconscious form of Dominica.

I unrumpled the first one and read it.

_Lissa!_

_I hate you. You did this to me! I know it was you! _

_HOW COULD YOU!! _

_You knew how I felt about Dimitri. You knew what I had to do._

_Now I cant! I cant get rid of this… this thing. _

_Its too much. I have to put everything on hold._

_Its just like you to do something like this. _

_I should have known! When you came to me in the Chapel._

_I hate you! I cant forget this!!_

_Rose~_

I didn't understand. What did the queen do? I unfolded the second one.

_Lissa,_

_I'm so fat! I cant see my feet. I cant look for Dimitri! I'm so tired all the time. _

_He drains me. My energy is so low. I know it's a he because he kicks the hell out of me. _

_I get these bruises on my stomach and I've got two cracked ribs. _

_But you don't care. Just another reason why I cant be your guardian. _

_Pregnant guardian guarding the last Dragomir. Yeah that's so going to happen. _

_Not that I'd ever be your guardian. You were my best friend. But then you try to use compulsion on me to get your own way. I cant ever forgive you for that. It was selfish. Even if you didn't realise you were doing it. As for my current condition, well, I think I will end up forgiving you for that. I mean, I'm going to kill Dimitri , I know I will. This child might be my last link to him. Even if I will probably end up living in a commune and being a blood whore. He'll be my light. _

_I might forgive you for this but I still doesn't change the fact you hurt me. I don't think anything could possibly change that. _

_Rose~_

I noticed on this one there were smudges, like water marks. I realised that Rose must have been crying when she wrote this. They were dried tear drops.

I rose from my seat.

"That whole box is crammed with them and some tapes, too." Her voice was thick, she had obviously been crying.

"Since the moment she left the Academy to when she left Dominica on her own. I read every letter, listened to every tape, studied every photo….. You wont…c..cant believe what this child has been through." Tears glistened down her face. "On top of the vague story she told us about what happened after her mother left… its unbelievable that she hasn't gone completely insane before now."

"You have your request. On one condition." She paused.

I tried to remember what I had asked her. My mind drifted back to the conversation I had with the queen yesterday when I had dropped off the box and the letter from Dominica's car.

"_She needs some sort of normalcy in her life at the moment." I implored. _

"_Well, what do you think should be done with her, then." The Queen answered with snare. "Drop her off at the nearest academy and let them deal with her?" _

_I couldn't believe what she was saying. This was her best friend's daughter and she was treating her like she was some sort of threat. Something to be dealt with. _

"_Maybe that's a good idea, she's been cooped up in the Court for days now." I paused as I watched the Queen's face grow redder. _

"_She should be in school. And training. Her mother had her on a strict routine which she hasn't been able to do while she's been here." _

"_I'll be the one to decide what is to be done with her." She started pacing. _

"_Leave, leave now Guardian Tully before I have you removed." _

_I set the wooden box down on the nearest side table hoping that she would at least take a look at it and left quietly. _

"She should be in school, training." Her voice brought me out of my memory. She looked at me with all seriousness. "I want you to go with her. Keeping a low profile. You'll teach and be her mentor but no one will know that you've known her previously, here at the court."

"What about her mother?" I asked. She surely would keep asking about her. Wanting to know where she was and if we were helping her.

"She wont be back." She said nonchalantly.

"What?" I gasped.

"Even if she did survive what she set out to do, which she mostly likely wont, she would never come back here. Not even for her own daughter. She is to proud. I realise now." She stopped talking and just stared silently at the unconscious figure lying in the bed.

__________________________________________________________________________________

She left again before I could even ask any questions. I suppose she would explain it more later.

I was watching Dominica. I guessed that she was just sleeping now. The doctor kept checking her every half an hour just in case. She must have been dreaming.

Every few minutes her eyes would flutter without opening.

I was looking out of the window into the darkness watching the clouds reform and a light shower gradually build up into a downpour.

"Joni Mitchell"

Her words startle me and I return to staring at her. She's smiling in her sleep.

"Why do we run, mum?"

Her words caught me off guard again. I never watched her sleep peacefully before. The other few times that I had watched her, she had been having nightmares.

"Stamina," She mumbles questioningly.

I cock an eyebrow.

"No, the other running,"

Her voice sounds so young. Like she is dreaming she is a child. What is she dreaming?

"Will they stop looking for me one day, mum?"

Her voice is pained.

__________________________________________________________________________________

My eyes flickered open. My whole body was stiff from lying in the same position for way too long. I shifted and the blanket that was covering me itched me.

Gah! Why the hell was I in the stupid hospital again?? Where are my clothes!? I looked down at the stupid ugly purple gown thingy.

I groaned but my throat was so sore it felt like it was on fire. I reached up for the cup of water that I spotted on the adjustable table beside my bed.

"You're awake!?" Mikhail said startling me.

I nearly dropped the cup of water all over me.

"Mmmm." Was all I could manage.

"How do you feel?"

"My throat hurts and I'm a little tired but fine." I croaked. "Why?" I questioned.

"Your heart stopped. You stopped breathing." He said astonished.

I shrugged and took a sip of water. "Maybe I had too much blood, usually I just zone out for a while"

"You knew that this would happen?" He asked incredulously.

"Not that I stopped breathing. But like I said I usually just zone out for a bit." I said nonchalantly as I picked some lint off the itchy woollen blanket.

His eyes nearly bug out of his head, "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"You never asked!" I snapped back.

"Yeah, well, what was I supposed to ask? Oh hey do you have any reactions to drinking blood that makes you, I don't know, stop breathing?" He shouts.

Why is he so angry? It's not like I did it on purpose. He's acting like a jerk. I fold my arms across my chest and my bottom lip sticks out in a pout. He paces in front of the bed.

He stops, "Sorry, I was worried." He murmurs.

Weirdo!

I'm tired. I rub my eyes. And I'm hungry.

"I'm hungry." I said looking around the room

__________________________________________________________________________________

After the doctor discharged me and some words to her about my so called 'health' issues, Mikhail and I made our way down to the cafeteria.

For some reason I felt so hungry, like I could eat a cow or something.

I felt the usual round of stares boring into me as Mikhail guided me to a table. "Sit," he says in a gruff voice. Welcome back mister-no-bed-side-manners. Glad to see you again. I rolled my eyes at him as I sat, but he probably didn't see because his back was to me as her walked away.

He brought back two bowls of steaming….erg! Yuck! Bright green slop! And some bread on another plate.

"Errrg…. You don't except me to eat that do you? It looks like something Kermit the frog would vomit up after a bender. What the hell is it?"

"Its **Zama**. It tastes very good, just try it." He replies sitting a bowl in front of me.

I sniff it, it smells….alright I guess. "What's in it?"

"Zama is a green bean soup with chicken, parsley, and dill." He says before taking a spoonful into his mouth.

Whatever.

I grab some of the bread and rip off a small chunk to dip into the green goop.

Mikhail obviously knows what I'm about to do. "I wouldn't do that if I where you." He says, "that's Melci."

I ignore him and dump it into the bowl, pulling it out quickly and shoving it into my mouth.

I almost choke.

"Blah!!! Yuck!! What the hell!!" It tastes like a combination of vegies and nutella. I instantly regurgitate the contents of my mouth on to the nearest napkin.

"I told you," he says smugly. "Melci is sweet bread. Taste great on its own. But mixing it with the Zama and its bound to taste pretty nasty."

I just stare at him dumbly.

He raises an eyebrow at me, "Eat," he growls, "you said you were hungry."

When I do finally start eating the 'Zama' without the sweet bread stuff it does taste kinda nice and I end up looking like a mad woman swooping in gulping down spoonful after spoonful until there is nothing left in my bowl.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Mikhail~

"I've got some news." I tell her after she's finished pulling apart her Melci.

Her eyes grow wide and her hand reaches up to her throat, "My mother?" She asked questioningly

Maybe I should have phrased that differently. "No, not your mother." I answer quickly as I watch her face fall.

"Oh," she says looking down at the table. "What news?"

"The Queen is sending you to an Academy." I say taking in her expression.

It's a frown. "What for?"

"To learn, silly." I poke fun at her.

"Well what about my mother," She snaps.

I cant lie to her, I know she knows when someone lies to her. Bend the truth? Little white lie? Fib?

"Well," I say pausing whilst trying to form a coherent sentence in my mind, "the queen is doing everything in her power to try to find your mother. But…."

"But what," She said a little to loud causing a spate of heads to turn in our direction.

"There is little to no reliable information of the where abouts of your mother and without that source then its pretty hopeless." I sounded cold.

"Okey," she whispers.

We sit there for maybe ten more minutes before I sigh and start to get up. She follows my cue and stands up from her seat.

When we get back to the room she spots the dried blood that pooled on the floor to the right of the bed. She seemed startled by the crimson spot on the floor boards and backs away from it landing softly on the couch.

I'd give anything to know what she was thinking right now.

__________________________________________________________________________________

What choice did I have? None that's what. I couldn't very well go charging off into the night to try and find my mother. I wasn't nearly ready enough. I had barely survived the attacks that seemed to plagued me through out my life. Let alone trying to find a fight for myself. I sucked at hand to hand combat and sparing.

Amanda was going to be driving me to the Academy. Apparently the Queen didn't want anyone there to know that Mikhail knew me before hand at the court. Which I have no idea why. Both of them made me swear that I would keep the identity of my parents secret. I knew Mikhail was just following orders but I had no idea why the queen wanted my silence.

And to make matters worse, I wasn't allowed to acknowledge Mikhail either while I was there. He was going to be a teacher at this Academy or something like that.

It was all so strange to me. Why did they or more appropriately she want to keep all these secrets? Weird. But I just kept my mouth shut.

The night slash morning or whatever it was. It was light outside but not sunny. The stupid sun hadn't made a single appearance since I got here and the rain had never let up past a constant sprinkle. Talk about depressing. Well, when it was time to leave, I made a point to both Mikhail and Amanda that I didn't have an clothes or anything that I needed to have if I was going to be living at a boarding school. Hell, I didn't even have a bra to my name. Just the stupid black hand me downs that Mikhail occasionally brought me.

Which was even more depressing.

I told them that if we could make a few stops on the way that I could pick up everything that I needed. I'd just have to go back to Port Angeles to see Mr Blatta at the bank so he could transfer some of my mothers money into my bank account and then one short trip to the Mall and hey presto, enough clothes and shoes and bras to last a lifetime.

When I told them both of my brilliant plan they both flashed concerned looks. To which I scowled and pouted. I thought it was a great idea. To which Mikhail explained that I was trying to keep a low profile and that waltzing back to Port Angeles, one, after being missing for almost a month, two, draining the contents of my mothers bank account and three, disappearing off the face of the planet again would disturb a lot of people, including the authorities, and do nothing for 'our' plan of lying low.

To which I scowled again. Just one bra, I begged.

In the end Amanda suggested that I write a list of all the things that I think I would need whilst attending the Academy to which I agreed. I handed my list to Mikhail the morning we left. He gave me a bag of the assorted clothes that I had acquired and said that he see me in a week or so.

Humph. I still didn't like this plan.


	17. Chapter 15

**AN: I do not own VA or Twilight or any other book/TVshows/movies that I may or may not have referenced in this piece. **

**Chapter 15. The Academy.**

Three days. That's how long I've been here for. And it was cold. The rain must have followed us all the way here.

Mr Fermanian was the name of the Headmaster of St Vladimir's Academy and I scowled as I sat in his office waiting for him to show up. Amanda sat next to me and told me not to say anything.

He came in with all this pageantry and flare which made me dislike him instantly. Amanda told him that I was her cousin's niece's daughter or something like that and that I had had some training but I was no where near up to the standards that other novices my age were.

I tried not to smirk at that.

What did I care if she lied about me? I was only here to be baby sat until they found my mother. I'd just have to bare it.

When he asked me what I had studied at my previous Academy I told him the truth, that I had been home schooled. I didn't mention my brief stint at a normal 'human' high school.

And he went on to ask what exactly I had been home schooled at.

To which I replied I had studied AP English, AP Trig, AP Biology, a little bit of Art and a little bit of Social Science. I didn't tell him about that I could speak two languages and I was learning Italian and Spanish.

He also asked me about my training.

I said to him, without trying to sound like a smart arse, that that was what I was here for. As soon as the words left my mouth, Amanda gave me one of those looks. You know those shut-your-face-now looks.

He smiles at me. But not one of those warm smiles. One of those you'll regret it later ones.

Meh whatever, your just a glorified babysitter.

So Amanda dumps me in this room three days ago and says to behave and that more of my stuff will arrive in a few days time. Great!

It's pretty bare except for two single beds with ugly, scratchy sheets and two small study desks with an ancient looking computer straddling the two of them. I'm actually relieved that I didn't have to share with anyone.

My class schedule started today, a monday so I decided to get ahead start and go for a run. Its not like I'm sleeping anyway.

So I start digging through the bag that Mikhail had packed for me. I hadn't bothered to pull everything out before because what I needed was basically on top.

I dump the contents on the back pack onto the spare bed and start rummaging through it all.

I stop and smile. Lying half buried in my black hoodie was that stupid looking bear that Mikhail confiscated from me the first day he locked me in that room. Complete with silver bracelet and bronze key. I pick it up and toss it onto the bed that I have chosen as my own. That was nice of him.

I pull on a pair of black sweat pants and a black singlet top and pull the black hoodie over my head. I lace my boots and grab the iPod that Mikhail gave me before I left flicking through a few artists to settle on one of my faves.

I pushed through my door and marched down the hallway. It was still pretty light outside considering it was heavily clouded and the dappled light filtered through the windows along the hallway. I made it down the stairs to the common room without encountering anyone else. I guess I was up early enough to avoid everyone.

I was about to step through the big double doors when a loud voice stopped me.

"Where do you think your going?"

I spin around to see a dark haired man with icy blue eyes and a scowl on his face.

"For my run," I said glaring back at him.

"Curfew isn't lifted till 5pm," He snaps back.

"Well how long till then?" I spit.

"I suggest you show a little respect to your teacher, Miss Belikov."

Oh crap. Busted by the headmaster on like the third day of a new school.

"Sorry sir," I muttered looking to the ground.

"I believe you own Mr. Ozera an apology." Mr Fermanian said.

"I'm sorry for being disrespectful Mr. Ozera." I grumble.

"Now turn around and head back to your dorm, It's another half an hour till curfew is lifted. I'm sure you can wait that long." Mr Fermanian said eyeing me for a reaction.

What's his problem?

"But sir," I protest, "It takes me about an hour to do my run, including warm up and warm down. I wont have enough time to run, get breakfast and get ready for my classes."

Classes started at 7pm and the dining hall opened at 5:30.

"Then I suggest that you run faster. Now, off you go."

Humph! Jerk! Why were all men jerks. Even that stupid Ozera guy was smirking at my annoyance. I stomped back up the stairs making a point to turn my iPod up to a screaming volume.

Maybe I could climb out a window.

I waited 20 minutes before making my way down to the common room again. I decided to just skip breakfast anyway because I just loved sitting on my own whilst the entire student body sat around me whispering and staring at me.

I knew that they were just curious about me but hell, grow some balls and come and ask me something instead of just staring and whispering.

So I ran. I didn't have a map or anything so I just took note of the time and ran a random corse for roughly forty minutes. That was how long my personal best time was for running ten miles. I didn't really push myself though. I could have run faster or harder. But it was still raining and I didn't want to slip and fall on my face. Plus I have no idea of what my morning classes were going to be like so I didn't want to exhaust myself.

It wasn't like the guidance councillor explained what the classes were. He spoke to me for all of five minutes and asked me the same questions as the headmaster had before handing me my class schedule. I took it and read over it not knowing what half of the classes were.

_1st__ Period ~ Intermediate Guardian Combat Techniques_

_2__nd__ Period ~ Bodyguard Theory and Personal Protection Level 2_

_3__rd__ Period ~ Weight training and Conditioning _

_4__th__ Period ~ Junior Language Arts _

_- Lunch -_

_5__th__ Period ~ Animal Behaviour and Physiology_

_6__th__ Period ~ Precalculus_

_7__th__ Period ~ Moroi Culture 2_

_8__th__ Period ~ Slavic Art_

I mean what the hell was Slavic Art? And Animal Behaviour and Physiology? Were they training us to be zoo keepers. I wonder if my mother took the same classes? She must have, this was the same school.

I still had a good half an hour before I had to get to my first class. So when I got back to my room I stuffed a change of clothes and a notebook I found in one of the desks draws into my back pack and slung it over my shoulder. I could make it down to the cafeteria if I moved fast enough.

It was mostly empty when I got there. A few stragglers lingered at one of the tables. I ended up with an apple and a juice box. That would do I wasn't really hungry.

"Dominica?" a voice echoed across the deserted cafeteria.

I turned and spotted a short girl maybe the same age as me. She had long dark hair and green eyes and she was very petite. She rushed over to where I was standing shoving my food into my backpack.

"You're Dominica, right?" She asked

I just nod my head.

"I'm Christabel. I'm supposed to show you around today. Help you get to your classes." She says breathlessly.

I zip up my back pack.

"We're running late, though. Did you sleep in?"

"No. I went for a run early this morning." I reply.

She motions for us to start walking and she starts carrying on a conversation that I have little to no interest in about some dance or something mundane like that. She is obviously excited about it. I could care less.

She drops me off at the Gym which I already knew where it was from my brief tour with the headmaster and Amanda on my first day.

"Your first three Periods are in the gym. I'm pretty sure that one of the other novices will tell you were to go for them. I'll wait outside to walk you to your forth period. Okey?"

I just nod silently.

When I walked into the gym, I found it packed with dozens of students all around my age. Most of them boys. I groaned. Just what I need. To have a class filled with nearly all guys who just want to ogle me the whole time.

Great.

I started warming up for the second time today. Going through a variety of stretches. I was ready by the time the teacher called the class to order.

She was around 6"2' tall, with shoulder length brown hair that was tied back into a short ponytail and dark brown eyes. She was slim but had solid muscles. Straight away I noticed that she had a very pronounced Russian accent and from what I could tell at a distance she had 7 _molnija _marks on the back of her neck. She couldn't have been any older then 30.

She had everyone stand around a round circle painted on one of the training areas.

"Alright, class, who wants to volunteer?" She said as she walked around the inner circle looking from face to face.

I was quiet content to stand at the back of the group and watch whatever demonstration she was about to give. But she obviously had other plans.

"You," She said in her heavy accent whilst pointing at me. "New girl, come here,"

I reluctantly stepped forward into the circle. I'm getting nervous.

"What's your name, new girl?" She asks.

"Dominica, ma'am." I say quickly.

"Dominica?" She looks at me questioningly.

"Dominica Belikov, ma'am." I try my hardest not to roll my eyes at her. Um…der you obviously knew that I was going to be in your class today. Please don't pretend you don't know my name.

"Hummm….another Belikov, Aye." She says musingly. "Well, Miss Belikov, attack."

I narrow my eyes at her. What? She wants me to attack her. What the hell?

I fold my arms across my chest making sure I tuck my left arm out of sight.

"Attack," She repeats with more force.

I shake my head at her, "No." is all I say in response.

"What do you mean 'no'?" She stops circling.

I can feel every eye in the room on me right at this moment. I don't want to fight her. Or anyone. Why the hell did they send me here? To fight people. No freaking way. Why didn't they just send me back to a freaking regular high school.

She launches herself at me. Blindsiding me with a sharp jab to my stomach. Right where my healing stab wound is. Its almost all healed, just a thick pink line is all that remains but it still hurts like hell. I recoil back from her. She starts circling me all the while glaring at me.

I stay still just turning on the spot to follow her around the circle. What the hell was she trying to prove.

She comes in for another shot at my side but this time I'm ready for her. She likes to lead with her left so when she fakes a right step I instantly block her from the left brushing off her attack.

I want to walk out of the circle but there is no obvious way out. All the other novices in the class have formed a tight ring around the circle shielding the both of us in.

She starts circling again. Feinting and retreating again. She finally moved in for an attack, coming at me with the full force of her body. I blocked the worst of it, but she was strong and I was out of practice. She didn't waste the opportunity and dragged me to my knees holding my left arm tightly behind my back.

I hissed at the pain that shot through my arm. The skin there was so tight already that any sort of pressure almost always incapacitated me with throbbing. But she didn't release me. I think she was trying to make some sort of example of me or something stupid like that.

"Break off into your sparing pairs." She yells.

She releases me pushing me forward onto the mat and I have to put my hands out to stop me face planting the floor.

What a great teacher!

"Next time you refuse to follow a direct order, Miss Belikov, you'll be on detention for a month. Hear me?!" She said fiercely.

I glare at her. I didn't plan on being her for that long. I held my left arm. I could feel it throb and I knew that the skin had broken.

"What's wrong with your hand." She asks me all ferocity gone replaced with concern.

"Nothing!" I growl as I clime to my feet.

She takes a step closer to me grabbing my pounding arm roughly. I wince and she just looks at me.

She rolls up the long sleave of my hoodie to reveal the throbbing bloody mess. The scares that were already thick and red had swollen to twice their regular size and the soft tender skin had ripped in several places revealing long lines of bloody tares.

"Take off your jumper so I can get a better look at it." She says with a sigh. Well maybe she's not the total bitch that she made herself out to be.

"Its fine," I say quickly snatching my hand back. I really don't want to take my hoodie off. She had already seen the burn scars on my arm. I was only wearing a singlet top under this so if I did take it off she and most likely everyone else in the room would see my collection of pock marks and scars including my recently acquired teeth marks on my neck.

"Do I need to repeat my threat about detention, Miss Belikov?" The fierceness returning to her voice.

I glare at her again. Its not worth it. I'd rather have a month of detentions then have someone feel sorry for me. But then I spot that stupid headmaster Mr. Fermanian eyeing me from the corner of the gym. He creeped me out. I really didn't like him and I definitely didn't want he to come near me.

So I did what she asked me to, I pulled off the hoodie.

My singlet must have ridden up slightly too because as I'm lifting the hoodie over my head there is an audible gasp from the teacher and a low mutter of something in Russian. She's either spotted the scar across my side, the double crescent shaped scars on my neck or the butt load of hand shaped bruises that still faintly covered most of my upper body.

Either way when I had removed it completely it was definitely pity I saw in her eyes.

She made me sit out the rest of the lesson sighting that I was injured and inadequately trained to participate. Saying that she would have to suggest to the head of novices that I get some special one on one training to catch me up to the rest of my classes. Great! Pity and special attention.

My next class was a theory one and I followed the rest of my class to a classroom at the back of the gym. I sat at the back of the room closest to the door and pulled out the note book. The teacher came in and didn't even acknowledge my existence. Well though, he didn't exactly take roll call either. I suspect that he didn't care if you showed up to class or not.

Almost immediately he started talking about a guarding technique. Near and far guarding. I had heard my mother talk about it briefly but we only had our selves to work with so there wasn't much point in practicing it. I took vague notes and copied the diagrams that he put up on the overhead projector just to keep myself from constantly yawning.

I could still feel the ache in my left hand through the tight wrappings that the teacher from the previous class had wrapped. I still didn't even know her name. Oh well.

The lesson seemed to end without any outside acknowledgement. No bell, no siren, not even a nod from the teacher to signal the end of class. Before I knew it everyone just seemed to get up and leave

So I did the same, shoving my note book into my bag.

"Miss Belikov?"

I turned, it was the teacher. "Yes sir?"

"I'm Guardian Cuthrey." He said warmly. Oh great another pity stare.

"Nice to meet you sir." I say politely.

"I'm glad to see you took notes. They tell me that you were home schooled." He said shifting a box of paperwork from one side to the other.

"Yes that's right sir." I say looking at the ground.

"So have you heard of the technique that I was speaking about in class?" He asks me.

"Yes sir, but I haven't had much practice in it, sir." I answer

He gives me a strange look. Oh crap. Demi you have a big mouth. What happened to keeping a low profile.

"Well what techniques are you practiced in?" He questions.

"Ummm…." Oh crap. Maybe if I lie and make up something he'll drop it. No. I cant lie.

"Ummm…. Well I know the Schrödinger Technique the best but I have also have experience in the Korotkov Technique." I say quietly.

"The Schrödinger Technique?" He scoffs, "that hasn't been taught in schools in years. It's too complex."

I shrug, "Works better with one on one guarding."

"Very true." He says thoughtfully.

"Guardian Cuthrey?" I say snapping him out of his musing.

"Yeah?" He says vaguely

"I'm going to be late to my next class." Which I didn't need on my first official school day.

"All right, off you go." He answers with a wave of his hand.

I made my way back outside to the gym. I recognised some of the boys from my class milling around gym equipment and dummies that had been set up into a circuit. Guardian Chase, captain of the schools guardians was trying to get everyone's attention.

"Quiet please, people. I want to introduce your new teacher." He boomed. "Guardian Tully will be replacing Guardian Aylesworth after his sudden departure."

My heart skipped at his name.

Thank god! He wasn't abandoning me.

But I had to remember that I couldn't acknowledge that I knew him. At least publicly.

I sighed quietly.


	18. Chapter 16

**AN: I do not own VA or Twilight or any other book/TVshows/movies that I may or may not have referenced in this piece. **

**Chapter 16. Limitations.**

"Should you be doing that?"

I glared at my new partner. Cameron or Kaydon or whatever his name was. Mikhail had split everyone off into pairs to complete the training circuit and I was stuck with him.

I curled the four kilo dumbbell with my right arm and again with the left. "What's it to you?" I snapped.

I hated that people thought of me as weak.

"I saw what she did to you in Combat this morning. She left a pretty nasty mark." He pressed as he lifted his dumbbells in the same way I was.

"It's fine," I lied. The pain wasn't so bad, as long as I didn't move my arm too much.

"What were those scars from anyway?" This Cameron guy was starting to get on my nerves.

"The last person who pissed me off!" I growled a little to loudly causing Mikhail to walk over. He was walking around the room individually instructing and correcting techniques.

"A little less talking and a little more concentrating, please." He said gruffly.

I winced as I lifted my left arm again. Oh crap, he saw.

"What's wrong with your arm?" He said tightly.

"Nothing!" I snapped again.

"Miss?" He looked at me questioningly. Trying to keep up appearances.

"Belikov," I said breathlessly lifting the dumbbell again.

"Now, Miss Belikov, should you find the need to lie to me again you'll find yourself with a detention."

Great twice in one day I've been threatened with detention and its not even lunch time on my first day.

"Its nothing." I repeat.

He glances over to my partner Cameron.

"Guardian Belikov used her in a demonstration this morning in Combat and she refused to attack. So she made an example of her. Her left arm has all these marks on it." He said quietly.

Traitor! Wait? What? Guardian Belikov? Humm that's what she meant by another Belikov. Didn't think that there were any other Belikov's out there. I suppose in this world it's a more common name.

"Detention, Miss Belikov, after school. Now show me your arm."

I dropped my dumbbells dangerously close to Cameron's foot which made him jump back and rolled up my hoodie sleeve for the second time today.

__________________________________________________________________________________

"Stasia Belikov did this to you?" Mikhail asked as he rubbed a balm into the exposed wounds.

"Is that her name? She didn't exactly introduce herself before nearly twisting my arm off," I grumbled.

We were sitting on the floor in the gym for my 'detention' and he was rechecking my arm for signs of infection.

"You really should have gone to the medical centre for this." He chides.

I shrugged, "The skin is so sensitive there that it happens a lot more often then you think. I should really be more careful."

"So why didn't you fight back?" his voice sounded nonchalant but his eyes were different. His eyes gave him away.

I had to endure the rest of the day with the whispers of those around me. Christabel had met me out the front of the gym just like she had told me she would and we walked together to Junior Language Arts which I found out was just a fancy name for English. And remedial English at that.

It bugged me that they stuck me in the junior class when I had told both the headmaster and the guidance councillor that I studied AP English. But what bugged me more was the constant whispering and staring. The afternoon was the worst. It was obvious that news travelled fast around here because by the end of English I had overheard several 'theories' about my sudden appearance mid term including that my parents had brought me up as a human then they turned Strigoi and I had no idea how to fight them so they beat me half to death.

Or my personal favourite, that I had done all the scars myself for attention so my parents sent me to the Academy to 'sort me out'. I mean every one can fake teeth marks on their own neck, right?

At lunch Christabel had me sit with her and her friends all of which totally ignored me. Which I really didn't care. Because by the sounds of their conversations they were all vapid and shallow.

After lunch and Animal Behaviour and Physiology, which again was just a complicated name for Biology, and sitting through the most torturous maths lesson in the entire history of maths lessons I had Moroi Culture. I was actually curious as to what this class was about. I didn't exactly have that much background information on the Moroi Culture and I'm sure that my mother left out a whole bunch of things. But when Christabel and I walked into the class room she let out an excited gasp.

Apparently the regular teacher was sick and we had a substitute.

Mr. Ozera.

I groaned.

God was testing me.

Since the regular teacher was sick for this lesson all we had to do was study. Either from the text book or from another subject.

Well, of corse I hadn't gotten a text book for this class yet so it had to be studying for another subject. Great, yeah, I could spend a whole hour studying remedial English and maths. Sure. No problem.

Not…

It took me all of ten minutes tops to finish the assigned homework for all of my theory classes. Including reading a whole chapter of the Near and Far guarding technique.

Yeah I could totally look at a blank wall for the remaining fifty minutes. Everyone else seemed content in whatever they were doing except for Christabel who was hovering over by the teachers desk talking to Mr. Ozera. They were chatting and laughing.

If anyone didn't know any better…. Perv!

Erg! Yuck.

I reread the chapter on Near and Far guarding techniques taking painfully detailed notes. Hell I think I could have wrote the whole freaking thing out just to keep my mind from wondering….

"Earth to Dominica?? I asked you a question." Mikhail said loudly pulling me from my memory.

"Oh, sorry, what did you say?"

He rolled his eyes at me. "So why didn't you fight back?" He repeated.

"Same reason I lied to you about my arm, I guess." I finally replied.

"And that is?"

I shrugged again, "I have no idea." I said blankly.

"Come on, your on detention." he said standing and offering his hand to me. "Your supposed to be wiping down sweaty gym equipment and washing towels."

Great! I took his hand and he launched me to my feet.

"When was the last time you slept?" He caught me off guard as I scrubbed down a particularly gross bench press that was coated in slime.

"Huh?"

"The last time you slept?" He stared at me seriously.

"In the car I guess." I said as I dropped the cloth back into the soapy bucket making it splash a little.

"That was three days ago, Dominica. And Amanda said you barely closed your eyes for more then a few minutes." He shook his head.

"And?…. A few minutes is a few minutes. Any way, you're one to talk. I think I've seen you sleep like twice the whole time I've known you."

"And what about eating? Are you eating enough?"

"What are you, my mother?"

He laughed.

"For all intents and purposes, yes." He smiled.

"Well, mother hen, I think I'm starting to get another craving." I said seriously.

"Meet me later tonight. We can handle it then."

"Okey,"

"Detention dismissed."

I rolled my eyes at him.

_________________________________________________________________________________

I went to the cafeteria because that was what was expected of me. They had someone mark everyone's names off a roll call for all three meals so that they knew if you missed one. But just because you showed up doesn't mean you have to eat anything. Anyway, I don't know how half this stuffed passed for food in the first place. Most of it was deep fried mush, the same you would find in any school cafeteria.

I ended up grabbing a plain bread roll and a carton of milk. I would have to ask Mikhail later if he had brought any of those pink packets with him.

I didn't stay though. I headed straight for my dorm room. I didn't really want to be around people.

When I got up to my room there was a large box blocking the doorway. I pulled off the note that was folded in half and attached to it.

_Let me know if I missed anything_

_~M_

It was on the back of the list I had written.

I hauled the box into the room and shut the door behind me.

I sorted the box out packing everything away in the draws and cupboard. He had got me everything I put on the list and more. Including several pairs of pyjamas one of which was a pink boy leg set and another was a flowing white nightie which I frowned at as I pulled it out.

A few hours after curfew kicked in and the lights in the hallway dimmed, I heard a soft knock at my door.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Mikhail~

"What's that?" She asked me as I sat the bulky carry case down on the study desk.

"It's a heart rate monitor." I said.

She gave me a funny look. Cocking her head to one side and letting her hair fall into her eyes.

"Just a theory." I said answering her unasked question.

"Lets hear it." She said as she sat down on her bed.

"Well," I paused making sure that I formed my theory properly in my head before speaking it aloud. "You said that you probably stopped breathing because you drank to much blood."

"Yeah," she looked down fiddling with the hem of her singlet top.

"Well I thought that if we monitor the amount of blood you drink and the reaction of your heart whilst drinking we can accurately pinpoint how much blood you need without you passing out and _dying_ on me. Again." I joked.

"Sounds reasonable." She said, adding after a few moments, "no needles though, right?"

I shook my head and attached the clamp to her index finger causing the machine to come to life.

It strummed away fairly fast. She told me before that she knew when she was craving because her heart beat picked up like she had been for a run and wouldn't settle back down.

"Ready?" I asked as I took a blood packet from the cooler I had brought.

Her heart beat upped slightly faster and she blushed. "Ready."

She was a little embarrassed to be drinking blood in front of anyone so I just kept my attention focused on the heart monitor. Taking note of the number of beats every few minutes.

It was a gradual thing. The slowing of her heart. When it had got back to around average I turned to tell her that was enough but she had already finished the satchel and passed out.

She was fast. And the absorption was just as fast. Before I could check the heart monitor again that sound that no one ever wants to hears echoed through her tiny dorm room.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep…………

Flat line.

I recorded the time, trying not to panic. This would help in the end so that I could know exactly how much blood to give her.

I waited patiently for her to recover.

__________________________________________________________________________________

"Mmmm…"

She shifted in her bed. She was waking up. It had been about two hours since I first came to her room and now it seemed like she was dreaming.

"Limitations?" she gruffed her eyebrows creasing but her eyes remained closed.

Yep. She was dreaming. It was nearly morning time and the sun, making a brief appearance for the first time in ages, had just dipped below the horizon. She should be waking up soon.

I set the alarm clock on the bedside table to go off in another hour and packed the heart monitor back into its bulky case.

"I hate you for leaving me alone…"

I paused and tried listening to anythng else she would say.

Nothing....

Wonder what she's dreaming about. She sounds agitated.

__________________________________________________________________________________

The annoying sound of my alarm clock woke me from my sleep. I had been dreaming but I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was about. Maybe that was a good thing.

"Front and centre, new girl."

I groaned.

Didn't she learn from yesterdays experiences that I really couldn't, or more to the point, wouldn't fight her or anyone else. Some people are just not too bright.

Today wasn't going to be an exception.

Another new technique.

"Not satisfied with the damage you did yesterday, huh?" I said snarkily as I positioned myself in the centre of the mat.

The whole class went silent.

She started circling in the same manner she had yesterday. I folded my arms in defiance.

She launched herself forward in an attack.

I sidestepped, barely moving in time.

She whipped back around and her foot caught me in the thigh.

I winced. But didn't move from my passive stance.

"If you don't make your move, girl, you are going to fail my class." She said stiffly.

I rolled my eyes at her, "Yeah because my life depends on weather or not you pass or fail me."

That sent another wave of silence around the room.

Apparently it did. Yeah right. If I fail this subject does that mean that the bad guys would stop hunting me. I don't think so.

She had stopped mid circle and just stared at me.

"Geez, I knew you were new and everything but for gods sake you don't know anything, do you?" Her accent was annoying.

I stepped outside the circle satisfied that she was too stunned to bother to keep up the charade, "You know nothing, either." I said flatly. "And I wouldn't take the lords name in vain again."

I went and sat on the bleaches beside my bag.

When everyone was set at practicing the new move, Cameron, the guy from yesterday, came and sat next to me.

"Why don't you fight?" He asked curiously.

"Because I shouldn't have to prove myself to the likes of her. She just a bully." I reply in a bored tone.

"Well then why are you doing this class for?"

"The same reason I have to do Junior Language instead of Advance Language and Precalculus instead of Advance Trigonometry. I didn't really get a choice."

I really did wish I wasn't here. I wish my mother wasn't missing. I wish I had the balls to tell the queen where to go, instead of being practically a prisoner at this stupid school for the mentally retarded content of taking orders the rest of their lives. Screw that. No freaking way.

After a long silence he spoke nearly the same words that Mikhail had spoken to me weeks ago, "So who are you hiding from?"

I nearly choked on the air. Was I _that_ transparent. Or maybe I was wrong in calling this the school for the mentally retarded. Humph.

"I have to go." I stuttered picking up my bag and nearly tripping down the steps.

"Wait! Class isn't over yet." He called after me.

Well, maybe not mentally retarded but definitely content on taking orders for the rest of his life.

Much of the rest of the day followed along pretty much the same as yesterday. And probably the week before and mostly likely the month and year before. Stupid repetitiveness.

After dinner, to which I only turned up to to get my name marked off the register, I found myself out walking in the rain. It was just trickling. Not enough to warrant an umbrella but enough that you wanted a heavy coat. It never seemed to stop here.

Damn Murphy's Law.

No sooner that I had thought about it only raining lightly, the heavens decide to open the flood gates and release a torrent of rain upon us.

I ducked into the nearest doorway not wanting to get anymore soaked through then I already was.

It just so happened that I had stepped into the chapel.

There was history here.

I don't know why, I should have just turned around and left, but I wondered aimlessly down the isle through the pews. No one else was around, the place was completely empty. Not even the priest was anywhere to be seen.

I bowed and sat on a pew near the front. It had been a while since I had been inside a chapel. Not since just after my mother had left and before Ben and his family….

My chest tightened, I still wasn't ready to think about stuff like that.

This place was calming. I let the peacefulness wash over me.

I don't know how long I sat there. Maybe a couple hours. I was finally brought out of my reverie by a door slamming shut. It made me jump slightly and turn my head to the direction to which it came.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know anyone was still in here." Said the man I assumed was the priest.

"No, its okey. Its late I should be going." My head kind of ached, I don't know why.

"What's your name, child?" He asked kindly.

"Dominica. Dominica Belikov." I said thickly.

"Dominica, why are your crying?"

I stared at him dumbly. I wasn't crying. I touched my fingers to my eyes revealing the wetness leaking from them. "I hadn't realised I was." I whispered wiping away the cursed tears with the sleave of my shirt.

"Its okey." He said sitting beside me.

We sat there silently for a long while.

"Would it help if you repented?" He asked.

I looked at him, "but your not my spiritual guide."

"I'm sure it wont matter as long as you repent to the lord."

I nodded numbly.

I might as well get some of this off my chest. Just being in here makes me feel better. Let alone go through repentance. It might take away some of this burden that I feel like I'm carrying around in me.

He took my hand and lead me to the analogion. I knelt taking the gospel book and the blessed cross in my hands and proceeded to repent.

He nodded and prompted me through my long lists of sins. Not once interrupting me. I knew what I told him shocked him because occasionally I would hear small gasps from him and when I glanced up at him I would see something in his eyes. Like pain or maybe worry. I wasn't sure.

He said a prayer before laying his Epitrachelion upon my head and saying the Prayer of Absolution.

I don't feel better. In fact I feel somewhat worse. I had confessed and repented my sins to Christ and now I was supposed to feel better. The good feeling I had when I first walked in here had gone once I started reliving and categorising my sins. The Prayer of Absolution my arse.

The priest bid me goodnight and I left the chapel. It was well past curfew by now but I really didn't care. I wondered aimlessly around the deserted grounds not really caring where I walked.

The place sure was huge. Much bigger then my last 'human' school. A person could get lost here and not to mention there were a number of unused and probably abandoned buildings scattered everywhere amongst the dotted forest.

I spotted one, a small cabin of sorts out in the middle of nowhere. Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to peak through the window.

Before I got near the window a small bush, halfway between me and the window, suddenly blazed to life. I spun, trying not to get to close to it. Then another, next to me this time, burst into flames. Then the other side of me.

I was surrounded on three sides by a wall of flames.

My eyes grew wind. Haunting dreams flooded back to me. This wasn't happening. I dropped to my knees covering my eyes. Maybe this was god punishing me for what I had told the priest. Maybe hell was swallowing me up, taking me to where I belonged.

I could feel the devils hands on my shoulder. He was shaking me.

"Dominica?"

That's not the voice of the devil. Though he belonged in hell.

I looked up to find none other then Mr. Ozera staring back down at me with worry. I shrugged his hands off my shoulder and scrambled to my feet.

"You're breaking curfew, yet again, Miss Belikov." He said with a voice that sounded concerned.

It was him. He made the fire around me. I kicked him in the shin. "That was a mean trick to play on someone!" I shouted.

"I thought you might be a Strigoi." He laughed. Jumping around on one leg holding his shin in his hand.

"I might be new to all this, but I know as well as anyone that they cant get through the wards around the stupid place." I snapped.

He stopped hopping, "Most people would think that, yes."

I stared at him not really know what he meant.

"You remind me of someone," he said whimsically, "though I cant for the life of me think who it is."

He kept returning my gaze. There was something about the way he was looking at me that made me nervous.

"I think I should go now." I stammered. "go to bed."

He broke the stare and replied, "I think you're right. Now don't let me catch you out here again, Miss Belikov or you'll be on permanent detention."

I took off. Unnerved from my encounter with Mr. Ozera and my confessions to the priest, I went straight up to my dorm room and locked the door tightly behind me. Even going so far as to push the wooden study chair under the door handle.

Mr. Ozera gave me the creeps.


	19. Chapter 17

**AN: I do not own VA or Twilight or any other book/TVshows/movies that I may or may not have referenced in this piece. I have also updated the classification for this story primarly due to the dream sequence in this chapter.... a bit of yuck for some people. Please do read with caution. **

**Chapter 17. Why?**

Mikhail~

"Whatever you have going on between you and the Belikov girl, End it or I'll report you."

I looked up from my sultana oatmeal only to be glared at by a very pissed Christian Ozera.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said feinting ignorance.

"I saw you sneaking into her room two nights ago." He said incredulously. "She's a student and you're her teacher. It's not right!"

I went back to eating my breakfast.

"There is obviously something wrong with her. She needs professional help. You're taking advantage of her" He continued.

I glared at him. "Don't talk about things you have no idea about." I said dangerously.

How dare he say that? He didn't know her. Or me. I was helping her. I was the only one she trusted. She didn't even talk to anyone unless a question was asked directly to her. At least with me she would say more then yes or no.

I got up suddenly, my chair scraping noisily along the ground. He backed away with fear in his eyes.

But something changed and he glared back at me. "Look, just end it alright!" he said before storming out.

Somehow I was glad that I always had my meal on my own.

_________________________________________________________________________________

A soft knock on my door broke the silence. I had just turned my light out and laid down to sleep when the knocking became persistent. I knew it was her but I had to resist. She needed to stay in her own room. Even if she didn't sleep.

Ozera was becoming insistent in his stalker behaviour. Following me around whenever he didn't have a class.

I had told Dominica to lay low for the time being but she had told me in class today that she needed to feed.

It had been four days since Ozera had approached me and six days since she had fed last. I knew she was pushing it. That the craziness could easily start back up again.

I sighed heavily and pushed the covers back from me.

When I opened the door she was standing in her pyjamas with her head cocked to one side. Her eyes were swollen and puffy with fresh tears streaking down her face. She had one of her arms above her head leaning onto the door frame and the other clutched tightly to the foot of the teddy bear I let her keep.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"I fell asleep." She paused to sniffle, "I had a bad dream."

I sighed again, "Demi, honey, you need to back to your room."

Shock marred her face. She took a step back stiffening her posture.

"We can talk about it in the morning, okey?"

Her tears stopped almost instantly and her face turned blank and unreadable.

I held my hand out to her in a comforting gesture but she backed away some more. She dropped the bear and sprinted away.

"Shit!"

__________________________________________________________________________________

I knew it, deep down I really knew it. I wasn't his friend. I was an assignment. A task. That's it. Nothing more. He was more worried that I'd blow his cover and he'd get reported to the queen. That made me angry. More at the Queen then at him. She was manipulating him. Grr….

I was exhausted. That's why I had fallen asleep. Absolute exhaustion. I had successfully skipped lunch and dinner yesterday without anyone spotting my absence. And I hadn't slept for more then a few minutes since I last fed.

But last night I don't know what happened. One minute I was surfing the net via a proxy and the next I was sucked into a nightmare.

_It was dark, it always was whenever I dreamed I was him. I could feel my hand running up and down my arm. I shivered to the touch. He was toying with me again. He led my mind back to that dark cave with the sparkling pairs of eyes staring out at me from the darkness. _

_She was no longer chained to the wall. _

_No._

_This was much worse. _

_She sat, completely in silence. Awaiting his apparent return. My return. _

_Staring blankly ahead. _

_She looked broken. _

_Defeated. _

_I cried out. _

_I tried to reach for her. _

_I tried to talk to her. _

_She coward away from my touch. His touch. _

_But she didn't run. _

"_Good girl." _

_She sniffled. _

_He had broken her. What more had he done to her to make her act like this. My mother. Afraid. Trapped. Alone. _

_I cried . _

_He. I touched her hair softly. _

"_You know what I want." _

_She sobbed as he, as I pulled her to her feet. He pushed her against the wall running his hand, my hand down her side and resting it on her hip. _

_What was he planning. _

_She looked up at him, at me. Terror in her eyes, but something else as well. I couldn't place it. _

_He pressed his body, my body up against her roughly. _

_No!_

_No! No no no no no no no no………….._

_Oh my god. _

_Ugh!_

_Oh my god. _

_No no no no no no……_

I had woke up screaming into my hands before he could….. Before I could. Ugh!

I had vomited. Gagging. Repulsed.

And that's when I went to him.

Crying. And looking for some sort of…. I don't know. Human contact that didn't disgust me to the point of throwing up.

And he told me to go back to my room. Alone.

I was alone, again.

The one person I could trust, the one person I though was my friend. Sent me away.

He sent me away…..

WELL SCREW HIM!

I had run from his room when he told me to go away.

Now.

I had to get away. He wasn't my friend.

I needed air. I found myself pacing to the common room to escape into the chilly night time air.

"Miss Belikov?"

It was that annoying voice again.

"What??" I snarled spinning around and giving him the worst glare I could manage.

"This isn't the first time I've caught you trying to exit after curfew." He said almost casually.

"Stay the hell away from me Ozera." I growled pushing past him through the doors and out into the chill.

Crazy stalker!

I don't know where it came from but I felt an overwhelming sense of anger bubble out from me. I couldn't place it.

I wasn't angry at Mikhail, per sé, more disappointed and sad. And I guess I wasn't really angry at Mr. Ozera. He was just doing his job. And the Queen. Well I could really care less about her.

But I was angry nonetheless.

__________________________________________________________________________________

It boiled over in Combat Class the next morning.

I had refused to fight one on one with anyone since my first lesson and today was no exception.

I was partnered with the dummy. My choice of corse.

I lunged forward landing blow after blow. Alternating between kicking and punching.

I felt a crowd watching on but I ignored them and kept up my ferocity taking some of the anger I felt last night out on the stupid dummy.

I heard someone clear their throat.

I kept going.

"You know, if you used some of this power when I do a demonstration with you, you wouldn't end up on the mat every time." It was Guardian Belikov.

I did hate her. Every lesson, every day she had chosen me to demonstrate combat techniques with. Knowing that I had refused to fight back in anyway she would usually end up kicking my arse and making me the laughing stock.

Screw that I was the bigger person. She could humiliate me all she wanted. Whatever. I knew my strength. I didn't want to hurt anyone.

Well she obviously had other plans.

"I know why you don't fight." She said circling around the dummy.

I just kept going. Grunting with exertion.

"It's no secret, that you got your arse handed to you and that's why you got sent here." She said with a smile on her face.

I stopped. My hands still tightened into fists.

I'm a bigger person. I'm a bigger person. Don't let her rial you up, Demi. Deep breathing or some zen crap like that.

"You failed! And someone died!" She taunted.

What? I glared at her.

I'm a bigger person.

"You train and train, but your never going to be good enough to be a guardian."

That's not why I was here.

"Keep your mouth shut, you have _no_ idea what your talking about," I said dangerously.

She stepped closer to me and shoved me with her shoulder. "I bet it was your mother." She whispered.

Ohhhh, that did it. Thunder crashed around outside making the lights of the gym flicker with the serge.

Screw being the bigger person. I hated this bitch for even mentioning my mother.

I launched myself at her. Taking her off guard. She had been goading me into attacking her so that she could prove how weak I was.

But I was far from weak. Far, far from weak.

I had trained for years on how to protect myself from the likes of people like her. My mother had taught me that there was always going to be someone stronger or faster or stealthier then me. But there was always ways around those obstacles.

She may have been taller then me and more musclier but who had who pinned to the floor.

No. Calm down. This isn't going to solve anything.

She's a bully. Don't be intimidated or threatened by a bully. My mothers words repeated themselves in my head. She had said the exact same things when I was seven years old and being picked on by a bigger girl at school. Back when I still went to a normal school, back before the first attack, back when everything seemed normal.

I closed my eyes and pushed myself off the floor releasing my hands from around her neck. She was going to have a bruise. I didn't care she deserved it and was very lucking that was all I did.

I walked back over to where I had dumped my stuff at the beginning of class, picking up my back pack and slinging it over my shoulder.

I was consciously aware of complete and utter silence in the entire gym. Enough to hear a pin drop.

Rare for a school let alone the school gym.

I walked towards the gym door trying to make a hasty exit.

I could sense her following me again.

"Running away again, I see." She said breaking the rooms silence. Then she muttered, "Coward."

My nose wrinkled in utter disgust at her comment.

"Fuck you! You don't know anything!" I screamed spinning on the spot. My hand connected with the side of her face with so much force I could literally hear the cheek bone pop with the connection.

I hadn't meant it.

I was supposed to be the bigger person.

But she had no idea. None of them did.

Why had she said those things? She didn't know anything.

People rushed up around where she lay on the ground.

She was unconscious. And bleeding a little from both her nose and mouth.

She had hit the ground hard where there weren't any mats, either.

This was her fault.

She was the one who goaded me into this.

I didn't want to fight.

I had spent my life running or fighting. Mostly running.

I turned to do it again.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Mikhail~

"What's going on?" I said to the flurry of Guardians walking swiftly past me.

"Hey, what's going on?" I gruffed grabbing the closest ones arm.

"Guardian Belikov was attacked." Said the man who's name I didn't know.

"What?" I said disbelievingly

"One of her students, apparently. She's unconscious at the medical centre. They say that one of her students flipped out and attacked her, knocking her out cold. The kid took off after that." He said breathlessly.

"Who was it?" I asked.

"That new kid. You know, the one who's a bit strange. Doesn't talk much. I think her name was Belikov, too."

Dominica.

I gasped.

"Fermanian wants every one, that can, out looking for the kid. Christian Ozera said that she unstable or something. Dangerous."

I let go of his arm and he kept walking swiftly.

What the hell happened.

She had told me that she refused to fight in that class.

What had happened that she needed to lash out like that.

She only did that when she was threatened. Like when I had backed her into the corner back at the Royal Court.

She must be upset about something.

No. She was upset with me.

I had to find her.

__________________________________________________________________________________

It had only been weeks but my minds eye was weak and confused. Her perfect motherly image was slipping and slowly being replaced by the broken, beaten form I saw when I fell asleep. I wish I had a picture of her. Something to remind me of how she looked before she left and my life went to hell.

Why had she left? Why?

I knew people were looking for me. And I wasn't exactly hiding. Merely avoiding everyone until I was ready to face the music.

I found myself in the deepest, darkest part of the library flipping through old school year books. The thought had come to me earlier that this was her school too. Maybe they had a photo of her somewhere.

My mind was lost in searching through the old volumes when a soft thud on the table in front of me brought me out of my stupor.

I glanced up somehow thinking I was in trouble. I just stared. Was I asleep, again?

"She's in that one." My dream stalker told me pushing another large volume across the table.

"How do you know what….." I started but was incapable of finishing.

He sat in the chair opposite me, tapping lightly on his temple.

"Are you…. Am I…." I stuttered.

"Yes Dominica, I am real and no you're not asleep. I'm in the flesh and blood today." He smirked.

"But the other time at the…the…" My brain had positively frozen.

"Yes," He sighed, "at the court, I was real, too."

"And before that?" I said remembering all the times I had dreamed about him. Starting from when I was very young.

"Well, it really depends on who you ask."

I frowned at him.

"All those times, I was real, just not flesh and blood."

Yeah, cause that made perfect sense… NOT! I crossed my arms and just stared at him, waiting for a better explanation then that.

He just smirked and returned my stare.

"Alright, Mr dream stalker, why me?" I said snarkily, "Outta the couple billion people on the planet, why did you decided my dreams were worthy of your presence? Huh?"

"It wasn't completely one way, you know…" He said cryptically.

I stared at him with a questioning look.

"The last time, with the beach house and the skeletons. That was completely you. You pulled me there yourself."

"No I didn't," I said quickly.

"And you can do other stuff too," he said casually, leaning all the way back into the chair.

"No I cant," I said way to quickly. His smirk increased to a wide smile.

"Who do you think is doing all this?" He waved his hand through the air towards to the window.

"Doing what?"

"The weather. Haven't you noticed lately that it always seems to be raining. Who do you think is doing that?"

What was this guy saying? "Um? How about god. Or mother nature. Or, oh gee, I don't know, the planets natural basic cycle of the seasons." I said sarcastically.

"Alright," was all he said in reply.

We sat silently for a few minutes. I was contemplating what he had said. That I was responsible for the way the weather was or some crazy thing like that and that I had pulled him into my dreams as well. But it still didn't explain why he started 'visiting' me in the first place.

"You didn't answer my question." I said quietly.

"And what was that?" He asked.

"Why me?"

"Well… you weren't the first person I tried. But your mother, she found out how to block me out. Least with you I could kind of keep an eye on her."

She blocked him out? Maybe….

"How?" I blurted out.

"I don't know. Medication, drugs, change of sleep pattens. Anything really."

Oh.

I know how.

My mother hardly slept for more then a few hours at a time. 'Force of habit' she had told me.

"So you know my mother?"

"Yes, briefly, when she was still in school."

He looked kinda sad when he said that.

"Wait? Does that mean….?"

"Yes, I knew your father, too. Though I probably wasn't as nice to him as I was to your mother." His smirk returned.

More silence.

"You remind me so much of her." He said quietly, looking away from me.

A deep heat rose on my face as I blushed at his words.

"So everyone says." I replied looking down at the table that separated us. "Only I cant help but think why, if we're so much alike, I cant predict anything she'll do or say or whatever but she can read into my mind like an open book; plucking things I'm thinking right out of my head as I'm thinking them. Sometimes it drives me insane."

Like I don't need that to add to my list of things that drive me to insanity.

He suddenly stood up and a glazed expression took over his face. "Magic by accident, magic by force. There are things in this world that shouldn't be tampered with and things in this world that are made by magic. And there are things that are the combined effort of the two and shouldn't really exist."

His eyes focused again and he blinked in rapid succession.

"I have to go." He said not even looking at me.

What the hell? I just sort of stared. I didn't really expect him to take an abrupt trip to Crazyville. That was usually exclusive Demi territory. In fact I was usually the mayor of Crazyville. But this guy was going to give me a run for my money.

Humm. I still didn't even know his name. He had been flapping in and out of my dreams as long as I remember and yet I still only knew him as my dream stalker. Well, my crazy dream stalker.

Least he found me the right year book. I stretched across the table and grabbed the fat volume when a hand snatched around my wrist.

"Hey?!" I protested turning to see who had me.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Mikhail whispered fiercely.

"There are rumours flying around that you killed her. Though, that's not quite the case, you still shouldn't have hit her." He rambled pulling me to my feet.

"She called me a coward, she mocked me, she said I wasn't good enough." I snatched back my wrist.

Everything she had said I tried to ignore. She had hinted that it was my fault that my mother was missing. I tried to be the bigger person.

"I don't care what she said to you. She was just trying to get a reaction from you. That's it! You should have know better." He snapped.

Someone had said that to me before. _Destul de mare sa cunoasca mai bine. _

I picked up the year book and stuffed it into my back pack.

"You need to listen," he said grabbing me roughly around the shoulders, "You're in a lot of trouble. They don't care what she said to you. You hit her. That's all they see."

"You don't understand!" I protested. "It was like she knew!"

He just glared at me. "Your just being paranoid." He said too loudly for a library.

I reefed myself from his grip. "Leave me alone!"

I was still supposed to be angry at him. I _was_ still angry at him. I really needed someone to talk to last night and he had turned me away. All because he didn't want his little mission to go astray.

That's all I was, a mission.

"Ahh…. Guardian Tully, you've found her." Boomed that deep annoying voice of Mr Fermanian the Headmaster.

Oh great, now I'm in for it…… not. Like I care what this looser has to say, anyway.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry guys there are only two more chapters left in this story. **

**Chapter 18. Trial By Fire & **

**Chapter 19. Disowning Souls**

**I think that this sory deserves a sequal and I'm currently throwing around plot ideas with my dreaming self. Hopefully I can organise something respectable. Just so you know, The one and only Richelle Mead has released the cover art for Blood Promise on her website and expectantly noted that there will infact be a sixth book as well. Hoorah! Keep reading and remember The Only Bad Question Is The Question That Was Never Asked!**


	20. Chapter 18

**AN: I do not own VA or Twilight or any other book/TVshows/movies that I may or may not have referenced in this piece.**

**Chapter 18. Trial by Fire.**

I sat waiting in his office again. Apparently we were waiting for more people, as if there weren't enough already crammed into his tiny office. No.

I was perched on the edge of the chair with my arms crossed, surrounded by three burley guardians that I hadn't seen before. I assumed that they had been brought up from the lower campus. They had even gone to the extent to take my back pack away from me. Like I had a consortium of weapons stashed in there ready for me to pull out and slay the first person to piss me off. Though, the look that I was sporting was definitely a pissed off one, I wasn't ready to lash out at anyone again. At least not anytime soon.

I had lost control earlier. Let my unstable emotions get the better of me. I should have just walked away. Like that old adage says 'fight hard and run away and live to fight another day'. But no. She had accused me of being a 'coward'. She even went so far as to accuse me of neglect causing my mothers death. My. Mother. Is. Not. Dead.

She probably didn't know what she was saying. She probably just said it to get me to fight her. She probably had no idea. And yet she had said it. She did want me to fight her.

I heard the door close hard and more people shifting their weight around. Clothes ruffled. I didn't dare look around. I didn't care who was in the room. I didn't care what was going to be said. For all I cared, they were going to expel me on the spot and I could get out of this hell.

I stopped to think, though. Where would she send me next? The Queen, that is. Would she send me onto the next Academy? Or have me locked up back at the court? Or just push me out the door saying 'I'm bored now. See ya!'.

What ever her decision it wasn't helping my cause. My mother was still missing. Lost. Trapped. Whatever. She wasn't where she needed to be. And that was with me. Gah! I sound like a four year old crying because her mother had left the room. Selfish. That's what I was.

Who could blame me? She was all I had known. Ever. She was my rock. My protector. My saviour. My mother.

"Miss Belikov?"

So it had started.

I slouched back into the chair not caring about the reproachful look that the headmaster was now giving me. He had never liked me from the beginning.

"Miss Belikov, what you did this morning was inexcusable. Guardian Belikov is still in the medical centre lying unconscious with severe neurological swelling and a broken jaw and cheek bone. What do you have to say for yourself?" He spat with disdain.

"I only hit her once." I protested.

Murmurs resonated around the room.

"That's besides the point Miss Belikov." He practically growled.

Not another word, I chided myself. Nothing. Just let him expel me and be done with it. I huffed sinking deeper into the chair.

"Look, we're all worried about you, Dominica." Piped up a kindly voice from the back of the room. I recognised her almost instantly; it was the elderly matron that marked our names off at meals.

"You don't eat." She went on.

"You hardly talk to anyone," another voice interjected that I didn't recognise.

"You break curfew almost every night," another voice said. I knew this one. Mr Ozera. Creep!

I tried tuning the barrage of comments and observations out.

"You train way too hard, but you wont engage anyone in hand to hand combat." The second voice again spoke up.

I snorted at this. How can anyone train way too hard?

"You haven't made any friends." The elderly matron continued ignoring my reaction. Hell, I'd been here for not even two weeks and they expected me to make friends in that short of time period. Yeah right!

"You don't participate in any classes, particularly the academic ones." Mr Ozera said once again.

Like he'd know, he wasn't even one of my teachers. Only a sub, I had a few times for Moroi Culture and a particularly crappy one at that.

Why were they assaulting me like this? Why did they even care? I didn't know half the people in this room and yet they all had put their two cents in. Why couldn't they just leave me alone and let me coast through this experience until my mother was found. Then I could leave and me and her could go back to the way it was before.

I liked it the way it was before. Just me and her. No Queen. No stupid Academy for the mentally retarded. No Moroi. No Strigoi. Just me and her.

It kept repeating itself over and over inside my head. Me and her. Me and her.

Why? Why? Why?

"Miss Belikov? Miss Belikov, are you even listening to what we're saying?" It was the Headmaster again.

'No. Not really' I wanted to say but I didn't. I just sat there stony face and silent.

"We really need to address your issues, Miss Belikov." He seemed to be trying to be kinder. But I saw through his farce. He was frustrated.

"We just can't have you at the Academy if you're going to be like this. You cant going around ignoring everyone and everything and then lash out at the first person who you don't like. It's just not acceptable." His voice was getting louder.

I sat still. Not meeting his eyes which I knew for a fact were staring me down.

"Miss Belikov?" He roared obviously trying to get some sort of reaction out of me. "Are you listening to me?" He spat.

Nothing.

"Right! We're going to have to get your mother involved in this." He growled.

What? My mother? They would have to get my mother involved? Did that mean….? My heart skipped a beat.

I spun around in my seat scanning the room. He was slouched over in the far corner pretending not to be listening to the headmasters shouting just like the rest of the people in the room.

"Mikhail," I whispered, "Did they find her?"

__________________________________________________________________________________

Mikhail~

She had that same pathetic puppy dog eye expression she had the night before when I sent her away from my room. It was pitiful. Close to tears.

She stared at me waiting for a response as did everyone else in the room.

"No, honey, they haven't found her." I said quietly. Every face in the room was incredulous except Dominica. Her sad brown eyes looked down and when she looked up again the stony blank look had returned. She twisted back around and said nothing content at staring at the floor again.

Fermanian eyed me. Trying to work out what was going on.

"Tully. Outside. Now!" He barked.

Great.

I pushed through the door and he followed closely behind as did Chase, the Captain of the Guardians.

He started speaking as soon as the door closed behind him.

"What the hells going on here, Guardian Tully?"

His secretary jumped in fright at the tone and volume he used. Guardian Chase just looked at me with sympathy.

"I don't know what your talking about, Headmaster Fermanian." I replied smoothly.

"Cut the crap! You obviously know her. Why the secrecy?" He fumed.

"I don't know what your talking about, Headmaster Fermanian." I replied again.

He eyed me, looking like he was going to pop an eye vessel shortly.

"You've seen the disciplinary problems we've had with her. Why didn't you speak up?" Oh yeah, really soon. It pulsed with every word.

"I don't know what your talking about, Headmaster Fermanian." I replied for a third time.

He was about to scream but Guardian Chase cut him off before he had a chance.

"Silage?" He said quietly.

I nodded in acknowledgment and he did the same.

"Are you telling me that you know what's going on here but because of some stupid, fucked up, Guardian 'thing', you can't say a word.?!" He spat.

"You shouldn't disrespect the Guardian Code. Its what keeps everyone alive and safe." I muttered. And Guardian chase nodded again in agreement. Man of few words.

Fermanian pushed past me and walked back through the doors to his office. As soon as he opened them the screaming could be heard. Dominica.

"You have no right to touch me!" She screamed. "Stay away from me!"

She was backed up into a corner surrounded by the three primary level guardians and the matron . Oh god help the person who got too close. The other teachers had backed off and stood against the walls.

"You have no idea!" she yelled.

"We only want to help you, Dominica. Just tell us." It was the matron, the one who instigated the whole sit down and chat thing with all of her teachers.

"You have no idea." she whispered again. Her eyes wild.

She spotted me entering the room again.

"Mikhail," she snapped, "I have to leave. I have to go home. I cant stay here anymore."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Miss Belikov." Fermanian said sternly.

"I don't give a fuck what you think. You don't even like me. You all treat me like I'm some sort of leaper or something. You say I don't make friends, well its because you all either completely ignore me or you look at me with pity." She spat. "You say I don't participate in classes, well, gee, I don't know? Have you ever though that I so freaking bored out of my mind that I can barely focus on what's being said. Wanna know why that is?? Huh?? Well it might have something to do with the fact that you've stuck me in every remedial class you offer here at this stupid school. I told you that I was in advance placement for nearly every one of my classes and yet, I have to suffer through a tutorial class on Precalculus. Precalculus?? I was studying Precalculus when I was 12 years old. I was three months off graduating high school before I was dumped in this hell hole. Three months then I was off to college."

When she had finished her rant she was shaking slightly. Obviously trying to get back in control. Her fists clenched and unclenched at her side. "I have to go home." She said her voice faintly shaking.

I looked at her sympathetically, "You know you cant. There's nothing to go home to." I said quietly. "And…"

"I don't care! Let them find me!" She roared. "Let them take me! They'll just take me to her. I'm sure of it!"

"What the hell did you say to her?" I scanned around the room.

"Nothing!" The Matron said, "She just went all quiet and her eyes glazed over. Then she started yelling."

"I have to go, Mikhail!! They're killing her!" Her voice quieted down a little.

"You cant Dominica. Not on your own."

"I'll take care of him. Of all of them. I should have before but….but… " She didn't finish.

"What is she talking about?" Christian Ozera asked no one in particular.

"She's talking about Strigoi. Aren't you, dear." Said the Matron.

Fierceness returned to Dominica's eyes. She must have released that the room contained more then just her and me. She had that silent determined look on her face. "I can take care of myself. I've done it before."

"How many times, before?" the Matron asked in a soft, kind voice.

This was it. She wouldn't say anything now. I knew her too well. She would clam up and look at the floor. Like she had so many times with me.

"Eight." said a new voice.

Adrian Ivashkov.

Great!

"Eight times. Isn't that right, Dominica? Well it would have been nine but that last one got away. And technically those last two, the humans, that really wasn't your doing. But you did start the fire that made the building collapse." He was speaking so calmly like he wasn't actually speaking about the death of people but like something mundane and uninteresting.

Eight deaths this child is responsible. Six Strigoi. And two humans. My god. Most Guardians in their entire lifetimes don't get to see that much action and yet this child, this poor girl has had to defend herself from that many attacks.

The look on her face could have burned through the wall. Anger dripped from her.

"You have no right." Her voice wasn't loud. No. Deathly quiet.

"Why don't you tell them how old you were when you saw and _killed_ your first Strigoi? What were you? Nine and a half? Ten? Maybe they'll understand you better if you tell them that? Or why don't you tell them the reason you dare not close your eyes to sleep?"

"Why are you being so mean?" she whispered.

"That you get sucked into that bastards head and he makes you watch him torture your mother. Beat her. _Rape _her."

"Stop." She cried pathetically.

"Or how about the reason they want you so bad? Huh?"

"Stop!" Tears ran down her face.

"Because you have so much power and magic…."

"Stop!" She yelled.

"that you steal peoples souls!"

__________________________________________________________________________________

The air around me tensed. I could feel every sensation, every tingle, every shudder as if it were my own. I clenched my eyes shut as his words rushed over my body. Of corse he knew. He knew because I had told him. But why? Why would he tell a room full of strangers all my secrets? Secrets I had even withheld from my mother. The reasons why I was a monster. She didn't judge me.

They were. They were judging me. I could feel it. Their emotions bleeding off them like blood from a fresh wound. Pity, hate, confusion, afraid. They were all there.

I couldn't be in this room. I had to leave. I had to get control back. I was loosing control. I started walking, not caring who got in my way. My hands went to my pounding head. Pain pulsing through like waves crashing on the shore line.

I pushed past someone not caring if they tumbled over. Not caring if they were hurt. Not caring.

Strong hand clamped down on my shoulders, temporarily rooting me to the spot.

"Let go of me." I said through clenched teeth.

"I cant let you go, Dominica." Mikhail replied calmly.

Well, I'm glad he could be all calm about this. But then I guess it wasn't his dirty laundry being hung out for all to see. I hated that man. The one who stole into my dreams most nights ever since I could remember. He wasn't my friend. He was just spying on me. To get to my mother.

My Mother. I had to leave. I could still feel this… this…. I don't know. This 'something' pulsing through me.

Anger.

Rage.

"Don't try to stop me, Mikhail. I cant… I … I…. cant control myself right now." I said quietly. I bunched my hands into fist to stop them from shaking uncontrollably.

"You just need to calm down, Dominica." He pressed. His hands building up pressure on my shoulders.

"Let go of me, Mikhail." I seethed through clenched teeth. I tried to shake his hands off of me.

"I cant do that, Dominica. Please just calm down." His voice raised at the end.

Oh god I cant do this. "Please!"

"No!" He fought back.

"I'm leaving to go find her! Mission accomplished! No more baby sitting for you! I'll find her myself!" I yelled.

"Fuck! Dominica! Don't you get it?? There's nothing to find! She's dead!"

A combination of incomprehension and instant acknowledgment coursed though me, "What?"

"Rosemarie Hathaway is dead, Dominica and the sooner you realise that the sooner you cant start rebuilding your life."

Everything grew silent…. For just a minute….

"Take it back," I said in a fierce but low voice.

"You know I cant." And he couldn't. I knew as soon as he said it, he believed it. I don't care.

"TAKE IT BACK," I screamed.

"No," he all but whispered.

My eyes saw red. I cant… I cant…

I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt the adrenalin pump through my blood stream mixing in with the rage that I knew was already in there. My heart beat picked up, almost doubling its pace. My finger tips started to pulse. Tingling with a strange but familiar sensation.

No.

Calm down.

NO!

Flames leapt from my finger tips, spiralling out in all directions. The blazing snakes coiled through the room, touching furniture and people.

I could vaguely hear someone shouting for everyone to get out. But my hearing was muffled, blocked out by a roar so loud in my ears it was deafening.

I could feel the flames licking at my own skin. Not scorching or burning, merely licking and caressing like the fingertips of a lover. It made my entire skin, my entire body tingle.

I was letting it take over. The flames were winning. Sucking my energy, sucking my will. But making me feel, all at the same time.

It was controlling me.

I couldn't let it.

Just breath.

Breath.

Come on, Demi. You cant let it control you. Just calm down. Breath.

I clenched my eyes closed again.

Outside.

That's where I needed to be.

Outside in the cool night air.

With the gentle rain.

I walked, my eyes still closed. Letting my senses guide me to the darkness outside.

__________________________________________________________________________________

I don't know how long I stood out there in the centre of the grassed quadrangle, flames licking up and down my entire body. It was slowly residing. Very slowly taking my energy with it.

I was vaguely aware of someone nearby. I knew it wasn't Mikhail. It was most definitely a fire user.

I still had my eyes closed so I couldn't tell.

"Dominica?" The voice said to me. It was very real… not at all in my head.

"Dominica? Tell me how you feel, Dominica." His voice was smooth, calming.

I don't know how I feel. I cant feel. My emotions were all over the place. I don't even know why…what caused it. My mind was blank. I was weary. Tired even. And yet the flames still burned around me.

"Sleepy…" Was all I said unconsciously bringing my fisted hand up to rub my eyes. "I cant control it. It wont turn off. I cant make it stop." My voice sounded like I was pleading for this guy to help.

I opened my eyes. Mr Ozera stood no less then two feet from me. Surrounded by his own wall of flame. The second I saw him, the memories of what had happened to make me react like this replayed themselves in my head.

Mikhail had said my mother was dead. He said there was nothing to find.

And he believed it.

He believed it was the truth and nothing short of showing him my mother in the very much alive flesh was going to sway him from that belief.

"Just relax, Dominica. You cant sustain this for very much longer. Take deep breaths." he sounded almost sympathetic. But not in the annoyingly pitying way.

He was silent for a few moments. The roar in my ears was lessening. Dulling.

Why was he being nice to me?

I sank to my knees when they could no longer hold me upright. My hands flopping to the ground touching the grass beneath me.

It was scorched, but still alive. But maybe not enough to continue growing. I pictured this patch of grass being forever scorched and stunted.

I focused on the grass, on how it felt when I ran my hands over it. Smooth. Cool.

The tingling had finally subsided replaced with a refreshing coolness. A wetness. The rain.

I tilted my head up, letting the icy downpour envelop me.

"Are you calm, Dominica?" He asked me quietly.

"Yes," I said. I could feel my nose dripping with what I suspected blood. A nose bleed. Great.

He squatted down in front of me, silently handing me a handkerchief.

"Think you can stand?" He asked putting a hand on my shoulder.

I instantly wanted to shrug it off. I didn't want anyone touching me. I nodded quickly hoping he'd remove it just as quickly.

He put his arm around my waist and launched us both to our feet. As soon as he let me go I could feel my weight try to pull me back towards the ground, swaying slightly.

His arm clamped around my waist again and he started leading me back towards the building.

Alright, round two. Ready…Set…. But we turned. Walking away from the administration building that held the headmasters office. From what I could glimpse as we turned, I could still see slight wisps of smoke rising from that direction.

"Mr Ozera?" I asked tentatively.

"Yes, Dominica?" he returned without looking at me.

"Did I…..did I…" I stuttered.

"Did you what, Dominica?" His voice sounded almost cold.

"hurt anyone?" I whispered.

He didn't answer straight away, but I felt his pace quickening towards our destination. Wherever that may be.

__________________________________________________________________________________

He dumps me unceremoniously on the bed in my dorm and sits on the other across from me. I curled up on my side, pulling my knees in closely. I don't close my eyes. I cant. I want to. But I cant.

He is watching me. Probably expecting me to explode or breakdown or scream or something. I wont give him the pleasure of seeing me break again.

He spoke, "I knew it. I knew it when I first saw you, that morning when you tried to break curfew for a run. You were so familiar to me."

"Who did I hurt?" I asked no caring about his rambling.

"It was so stupid of me not to notice before."

"Who Did I Hurt?!" I repeated.

He stares up at me finally breaking out of his apparent daze.

"Now that I think of it, you look exactly like she did, when she was your age."

He grew silent.

I grabbed the bear, which had somehow made its way back to my room even though I remembered dropping it at Mikhail's room last night, pulling it to my chest tightly.

"People keep saying that. But then they go all funny and wont answer my questions." I dropped the bear and scooted forward on the bed until I was hanging off the edge. "Like, why did she leave here?"

His eyes lit up with realisation and he shifted uncomfortably. "You would have to ask your mother that one, but I suspect it has something to do with Dimitri turning Strigoi and," he paused, "going by your last name, you, too."

Something clicked in my head. "You mean she went looking for him?" I blurted out.

He didn't say anything. He didn't have to, the look on his face was confirmation enough.

"Why didn't she come back after she found him?" I asked.

"I don't know. Did she ever find him?" He replied.

Humm… I cocked my head to one side at his statement. That might….

That did….

She never found him.

That's why she kept leaving.

She never stopped looking for him. Even now, this last time, she was looking for him.

Why?

Did she want him back?

He was a Strigoi. An evil one. The walking dead.

How could she do that?

"She still loves him…." I said quietly.

I had stopped her from looking.

She loves him and I had stopped her from looking for him. She had to stop looking for him to take care of me. She had always told me not to let anything hold me back and yet… and yet that was exactly what I was doing to her.

She must resent me. For holding her back from finding her lover.

I tried to think back to the last time I told her I loved her. Had she said it back to me? I strained trying to think.

No.

She hadn't.

I told her I loved her and she just smiled sadly at me.

Had she ever said it?

Had she ever told me she loved me?

I couldn't recall one moment where she had. Not one.

Maybe she didn't.

Maybe she had never said it knowing that I would know if she were lying.

Oh god.

My mother didn't love me.

Tears prickled in my eyes.

I love her. But she didn't love me.

I rolled myself into a ball facing away from Mr. Ozera.

I didn't want him to be here.

I wanted to be on my own.

She had said kind words to me, hadn't she? Telling me if I was training well or if I learned a new technique quickly. She had taught me everything she knew and more. That meant she loved me, right. She was training me to protect myself.

It dawned on me. She was training me to protect myself so she could leave me alone.

Alone.

I was alone.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Mr. Ozera left sometime, I don't know when after I pretended that I was sleeping. Though, I suspect that someone was standing guard outside my door.

I wasn't, I just continued to stare at the wall beside my bed digging through the memories I had of my mother.

I heard the door open softly and someone enter.

"She's still sleeping." I heard Mr. Ozera mutter.

"She doesn't sleep." Mikhail spoke in a crisp clear voice, "she passes out from absolute exhaustion, sleeps for maybe a handful of hours and wakes up screaming her lungs out. She's faking." I felt him prod me in my back.

I didn't move. I didn't want to deal with him or anyone else. He had only just told me beyond a doubt that my mother was dead. He had made me loose control. He had made me hurt people.

"Get up, Dominica." He snapped.

I rolled over and saw his face. It softened for just a moment before his hard expression engulfed it once more.

"Come on." He said gently.

I pulled myself to my feet.

This was it. I was getting kicked out. No one cared, I didn't care.

I might as well just go present myself to the Strigoi and be done with it. What was the point?

Mikhail threw a jumper at me but I just dropped it to the bed.

"Its cool outside." He justified.

"What's the point." I said in a cold tone.

He lead me out into the hallway where two more guardians joined us. He, well they, escorted me downstairs.

Weren't they even going to let me pack my stuff before they kicked me out?

Apparently not.

Though, technically, it wasn't really my stuff.

They led me. Mikhail and one guardian in front of me and Mr. Ozera and another guardian behind me. I walked with my head down. Feeling the gazes of the other students as we weaved in and out of the daily scramble to classes. They didn't even try to contain their whispers, instead speaking outwardly.

"That's her." One student said loudly.

"Oh my god, she's still here," says another.

I ignored them, trying to think of a plan. What was I going to do when I left here.

I wasn't really paying attention on where I was being led to so when we stopped outside the medical centre I was surprised.

No one said anything to me, which I thought was to be expected, as they led me through the doors.

It was the same as most hospitals and believe me, I had been in enough in the past months to last a lifetime, with a single long corridor stretching its length and single hospital beds dotted along every few feet. There were a few dividers and at one end there was a glassed off office looking room.

Mikhail dismissed the two guardians who I didn't know and told me in his regular gruff voice, "Sit," on a bed in one of the cordoned off areas. He and Mr. Ozera left presumably to get a doctor or something. I had no idea why I was brought here. I wasn't sick. Maybe tired but not sick.

I laid down on the bed facing the direction I heard other voices.

"If she doesn't wake up soon, the doc doesn't think she will wake up at all." Said a feminine voice. Probably a nurse.

"Her poor mother, been through so much and now this." Said another.

I heard the curtain open and then close again. They had left, too.

I guessed almost straight away who was lying unconscious in the next bed.

Guardian Belikov.

I didn't mean to hurt her.

I sat up trying to peer through the crack in the curtained divider.

Yeah, it was her.

I bet her mother loved her.

I bet she had friends.

I bet she had people who cared about her.

I didn't.

Remorse filled me. What had I done? I had hurt someone who didn't deserve it. Hurt someone who had family. What would her mother think of me? She would hate me, too. Just like everyone else.

I squeezed between the divider and was completely taken aback by her state.

I had only hit her once and yet here she was looking like someone had beaten her to a pulp. Her face was swollen twice the size and was coloured a deep shade of purple. She had a tube in her throat and coming from her arms.

God, I was a monster.

I had caused her pain. And now she might not even wake up. I had effectively killed someone. Her. An innocent.

I already had blood on my hands.

Something compelled me to reach out to stroke her face.

"Demi? What are you doing?" I didn't even hear Mikhail come back. He came up beside me.

"Let go." He said softly.

"What is she doing?" Hissed Mr. Ozera.

I felt something flicker through my fingertips. Something different from before.

"Demi, Let Go!" He said sternly while his fingers wrapped my own.

I cant. I hurt her. Now, I'm helping her.

"Now! Demi!" He shouted.

Her eyes wrenched open and she was looking straight at me.

Pleading with me.

"Demi! Let her go!" He was reefing my hands away from her. But I held fast.

Her hands grip over the top of Mikhail's. His nails dig into my hands as hers do the same to him.

The force surges through my fingertips and Guardian Belikov struggles under my grip.

I'm helping her. I could see it. The purpleness of her face was already fading and the swelling subsiding.

"Ozera, Help me." Mikhail grunted and I felt another set of arms go around my waist.

Her dark brown eyes just stared up at me as her grip relaxed.

Ouch…..

Something stung me, breaking my concentration.

My hand flew up to my neck where the offending mark was.

Mikhail's hands snaked around my shoulders and pulled me away from the bed.

"What the hell, Dominica?" He chastised.

"I was…I was…" I don't feel good.

I watched as the doctor, who came from nowhere, went and examined the now still figure of Guardian Belikov.

"Stasia?" She said as she flashed a tiny torch in her eyes.

Guardian Belikov reached up to her mouth. She was awake.

"Mikhail…" my voice was drowsy.

"It's a sedative, Dominica. To help you calm down." He replied knowing what I wanted to know.

I fought against him and the drug that pulsed through my veins.

"I am calm." I protested weakly.

Blackness washed over me drowning me in silence.

__________________________________________________________________________________

I was dreaming. I knew I was.

It was that place. The one I never wanted to see. The one I had been afraid to sleep because of.

He was holding my mother here. I knew she didn't love me but she was still my mother and I still loved her. I didn't want to see her suffer and yet she had suffered at the hands of that Strigoi monster.

He had chained her. He had tortured her. He had raped her.

She shouldn't have to go through that.

It was dark. Always and perpetually in darkness. But my eyes were drawn to the very back of the cave where I knew she was.

And him, too.

He was standing in front of her, stroking her hair, much the same way a lover might. She was looking at him with a mix of fear and…and… something else.

Something was different this time. I could see her. And I could see him. I was in my own body. I wasn't stuck in his head.

"I don't need you anymore," he purred to her, "I've found her."

What?

"The same place I found you."

What? What?

"She has something that belongs to me."

His hand slipped around her neck and she cringed a little.

"And she's going to give it to me, whether she wants to or not."

The other hand joined completing the circle around her neck.

She gasped bringing her hands up to meet his.

No. He was killing her.

Her nails scratched at him and she was panting for air.

A grin stretched across his face as he lifted her by her neck. Her feet swinging and struggling for something to keep her grounded. A choking sound emitted from her lips as she tried in vein to suck in air.

He was suffocating her. He was killing her.

And I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't stop him.

Her struggles grew weaker and her feet stopped kicking. Her face started turning a slight tinge of blue and her lips were painted a blushing violet.

Her hands dropped to her side and she lay still, in his grasp.

She was dead.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Mikhail~

They had me hold her while she administrated the sedative. Her hands were clasped around Stasia Belikov's unconscious form. I had tried with all my strength to pry her off, but I just couldn't.

The Doc sneaked up behind us with the syringe ready and plunged it deep into her neck breaking her concentration.

"Mikhail…"she said drowsily, the drug taking effect almost instantly.

"It's a sedative, Dominica. To help you calm down." I told her so she wouldn't struggle.

She struggled weakly against my grasp but eventually gave in.

"I am calm…" she forced out just as she slipped into unconsciousness.

The doctor set her up on a drip that administrated a continual dose of the sedative keeping her in a constant state of stasis. Her expressions was strained and I wondered if she was dreaming in her drug induced sleep.

I asked Christian to fetch her a fresh change of pyjamas from her room so she could be changed and he came back with her white nightgown. She had told me once that she didn't like it and never wore it. But it didn't matter, she couldn't protest and by the way the doctor was talking they were planning on keeping her this way till they figured out what they were going to do with her.

It had been a few hours and Fermanian had me return to my regular classes. They were in disarray. All of the students were fidgety and couldn't concentrate. But after I endured through them all I returned to her side to check on her. She was still my charge and I like to think more. A friend.

I found the doctor frowning over her. Dominica was tossing and turning in her bed. Her expression was horrific. Twisted and gnarled into something unrecognisable.

I asked the doc what was wrong and she replied, "I don't know. I cant give her anymore sedative. She's on the maximum now." She checked over the chart again.

"I think she's going to wake up soon." I told her.

She looked at me incredulously, "She cant! I've given her enough to knock out someone three times her size."

"She's having a nightmare," I informed her. This was how she got when she….

My thought was interrupted by a piercing scream. Her scream.

She bolted upright as her screaming deepened. Her eyes wide and her breath fast.

"He killed her. He killed her." She panted over and over.

She pulled out the tube administrating the sedative flinging it away from her.

"He's Coming Here. He Found ME!!" She screamed.

Her voice broke, "HE FOUND ME!"

* * *

**A/N: There is only one last chapter leftafter this one. It is written and is in editing. There is also a epilogue that has been started. Thanks for the ride boys and girls hope you enjoyed it as much as I certainly did. **

**~Miss Mel~**


	21. Chapter 19

**AN: I do not own VA or Twilight or any other book/TVshows/movies that I may or may not have referenced in this piece.**

**You can get anywhere in the world in just three days.**

Mikhail~

Any and every spare moment I spent watching over Dominica. The doctor had refused to give her any more sedatives but even without them she was unresponsive. Whatever she had seen in that dream had silenced her, well, after she had stopped screaming.

She refused to eat, she refused to sleep, and she barely even blinked.

On her second day in this awake comatose state the doctor pulled me aside.

I was watching Dominica mumbling and moving restlessly in the hospital bed.

"I think her mind is lost." She said bringing me back to earth. I turned to look at her. "She's talking to herself, she sometimes shouts out for no reason at all and then she cries for no apparent reason. I'm worried we're not suitable to handle a case, such as hers, here."

I looked at her for a long time processing what she was saying.

"She is so traumatised and she's dangerous, too. It's not a good combination. We just don't have the facilities here." She continued.

"Okey," I said brushing my hand through my hair. "Where will you send her?

"There is a facility in Northern Texes that deals with both Moroi and Dhampir alike who have…have…"

"Spit it out doc! Who have what?" I demanded.

"Gone Nuts. Crazy. Bonkers. Not right. Lost the plot. Not playing with a full deck. Not in control of ones faculties. All the light's are on but no ones home. A few roo's loose in the top paddock. A couple fries short of a Happy Meal. Round the bend. Insane!" Dominica's voice was raspy.

I spun round to look at Dominica. But she had just gone back to the glazed look she had sported for the last couple of days.

"Baby? Speak to me. Tell me what's wrong." I pleaded.

She just stared blankly. As if I wasn't even there and she hadn't spoken.

"See what I mean." Said the Doc. "I've called someone to come and asses her. They're flying in in a few days."

I nodded as I brushed my arms down her arms. She whimpered slightly but I wasn't sure if it was at my actions or just because she was seeing something in her mind that frightened her.

__________________________________________________________________________________

The next day most of my classes were cancelled because of the horrible weather. It had been pouring and it caused slight flooding on the outskirts of the campus.

I sat with Dominica again. I don't know why I did this. Day in and day out. It obviously wasn't helping her me being here.

I let out a frustrated sigh.

"You could try talking to her."

I jumped. I hadn't heard the doctor come in.

"How's she doing today doc?" I asked the woman.

"Pretty much the same as yesterday." She replied as she checked her chart.

"Pretty much?" I questioned. What did that mean? Was she getting worse.

She put the chart back onto the end of the bed, "Her heart rate is increasing. Only slightly since yesterday, but when I compare it to the first day she was here." She paused, "well, its higher. Significantly higher."

"Maybe she's getting hungry." I said without thinking. Her heart rate increased when she was hungry.

"Oh." She gasped. She obviously hadn't thought of that. She could control magic. Sort of. So why wouldn't she drink blood like the rest of the Moroi.

I keep forgetting. She's not Moroi. Unique amongst the unique. I believe that's what her mother wrote.

"Have you tried reading to her?" She said off handedly. "There are a bunch of books from the library in her school bag."

I looked at her sceptically.

"Couldn't hurt." she shrugged as she left the curtained off area.

I pulled out several books from her bag that was stashed under her bed. Most of them were just text books or instructional books.

But one I pulled out was a year book.

I wonder why she had this one for.

I sat in the chair beside her bed and started to flip through it.

She was lying on her side. It looked like she was watching me as I turned but I couldn't tell.

It was all just random pictures of students and staff.

Some using magic. Some inside classes. Some sparing.

I flipped past one page, but I had to stop and go back.

It was Dominica.

Or at least someone who was the spitting image of her. It was a photo taken of a one on one session.

It couldn't be her.

Of corse it wasn't.

I pulled the book closer to me to get a better look.

Wow. Talk about similar.

The Dominica doppelganger was standing in almost the exact stance I had seen Dominica use so many times. Feet exact distance apart. Arms ready and on guard. The only difference was that this girl was slightly shorter the Dominica and she had this huge grin on her face.

I had never seen Dominica grin or smile or anything.

I read the caption under the photo.

_Rosemary Hathaway (17) & Dimitri Belikov (24)._

Holy shit. These were her parents. The man in the picture was tall, with slightly longer then shoulder lenght brown hair and pale complexion.

Dominica shifted beside me.

I looked up to see a horrified expression replace the glassy one.

She sucked in a lungful of air. Oh god, she was going to scream.

I waited for the sound.

But it never came.

Her face just blanked out again. Returning to the expressionless stupor.

What the hell?

I just stared at her for a long time.

I was about to put the book away when, from the corner of my eye, I saw her shift again.

She was too quick. She launched herself towards me.

I fell backwards as she landed on my lap. Her hands gripping around my neck in an unpleasant way.

I struggled trying to push her away. Her hands constructed my windpipe and I couldn't yell out.

Her eyes were wild. Nothing like I'd ever seen before.

Her nails dug into my neck.

What had I done to upset her?

I struggle to breath.

Her breath was ragged.

I felt her lean in closer to me.

My hands pulling at her own to let me go.

Her face was so close to mine that I could see her iris' clicking open and closed like the sphincter of a camera shutter.

What the hell?

Was she going to kiss me?

No.

Definitely not.

Her teeth plunged into my neck like glass tearing at my flesh. The pain was excruciating.

It felt like tiny insects were crawling threw my veins biting my from the inside out.

This was nothing like how they said. This was supposed to be pleasurable. Like being on a high.

This… This was not even close.

It felt like I was on fire but freezing at the same time. Like… like…

My mind was going blank. She was draining me. Completely.

I was on the fringes of consciousness.

My vision tunnelled.

Just as suddenly as she started. She ripped herself away from me. Howling in the process.

"NO!" She yelled. "I wont! You cant make me…. Leave me alone. You cant come here……"

Her voice faded as I slipped into unconsciousness.

__________________________________________________________________________________

I stood in my long white nightgown. A breeze blew gently around me ruffling through my hair. His voice no longer echoed through my head. He no longer stole my thoughts or my speech. But I was still frozen to the spot.

I knew what was coming. And I was numb. My mind could not process what my eyes were seeing.

An army. An army of red eyed monsters. An army of red eyed monsters had gathered just beyond the wards.

There was no mistakes. They were waiting for me, he had told me so. I was compelled to walk.

_'It could all end peacefully if you just come to me.' He had said to my mind. 'Or better yet just drain your friend, there. Drink his blood. All of it and i wont have to hurt you.' _

His voice was so silkily smooth in my mind. Asking me to do things. _Telling_ me to do things. I tried to fight back but in the end his words compelled me.

I didn't want to. I couldn't. I tried, but i couldn't. Mikhail was the closest thing I had to a friend. I'd rather die then see me hurt him anymore. So I ran away.

I knew my fate as soon as I left the wards. What would become of me and yet I still placed one foot in front of the other ghosting my way to the border.

"There's nowhere to run, so let's just get it over with." The voice said to me.

"Soon I know you'll see," The words barely made it to my ears as the wind took possession of them.

"You're just like me." I kept walking.

"Don't scream anymore my love, 'cause all I want is you." I stepped over the imaginary edge.

A sob escaped my mouth. "You belong to me, princess." His words were meant to be reassuring, I bet, but they scared the hell out of me.

"You'll never know the way your words have haunted me. I can't believe you'd ask these things of me. You don't know me." I whispered.

"You are mine." He repeated.

"I can't escape the twisted way you think of me. I feel you in my dreams and I don't sleep." Tears rolled down my cheeks splashing onto my nightgown.

"You are me," He growled and launched himself forward to meet me.

"I cant save your life," I knew what he said was the truth. I was him, he was me. Two halves of one whole. My father, a shared fate. One could not live peaceably while the other did. "Without ending mine."

I had his soul, his being, his essence. Thats what my Dream Stalker had meant when he said that I stole souls. He wanted his soul back.

But I didn't steal it. It had been given to me when he was turned.

It was part of my conception.

Lissa. She was much more powerful then anyone actually gave her credit for.

All the ingredients had been there. That day in the chapel after the first attacks on the school. My mother had told me. But it…I…I might never had been, if my father hadn't been turned and Lissa hadn't healed my mother.

The Daughter of two Dhampir's, with a stolen soul.

"I will have it back, daughter. It is not yours! You will give it to me or you will die," He growled louder, landing a few feet from me.

Frozen fear. I stopped dead. Dead in my tracks. Fearful of taking any more steps.

Hisses and trembles rocked through the waiting crowd of Strigoi. Anticipation biting the air.

He stepped closer. No. Stay back. He was too quick. His large hand snaked its way around my slender neck.

I was afraid. More then any other time in my life. More then that first time I saw a Strigoi and fire had escaped my finger tips. More then when I realised that I had caused my only friends death and that of his family. More then when I had realised that my mother was dead, my own body betrayed me. This was how he killed my mother. Strangled the life out of her.

His fingers dug into my neck but I could not fight back. I could hear the shouts and screams of those just on the other side of the wards. They were calling my name. I could hear Mikhail. Shouting my name over and over. Desperation in his voice.

He had been so kind to me. Took me under his wings and treated me like a sister. The brother I should never have. I was a fool to treat him the way I had. He was only trying to protect me. I realise now that I was more then just an assignment to him. He was my brother, the brother I could never have.

But I had hurt him. I tried to set him on fire. Then when he sat by my bed pleading with me to speak to him. I bit him. I tried to drain his blood, before I knew what I was doing. My father had control over me. I almost didn't stop in time. He would never firgive me.

I shouldn't have been born. That thought dominated my mind. I could have prevented this if I was never born. My father would have been a Strigoi but he would never have the same determination he does now. The determination to get his soul back. But now he had it. It was in his grasp, I was in his grasp. I should just give up.

"DOMINICA!! FOR FUCKS SAKE, FIGHT BACK!!"

Huh?

His hand gripped tighter and his head spun around to glare at the red army behind him.

That was my mothers voice. My mother. She couldn't be alive. That night after I fought with Mikhail and nearly burned him alive I got sucked back into my fathers head. I felt her last breaths leave her. I felt her die. She's dead, it's a trick.

Tears escaped my eyes. "You have me now, just leave everyone else alone," I whispered.

He laughed. He threw his head back and laughed his heart out. "This wasn't just about you, princess. You're just a bonus. We're going to drain this pathetic school and then the next and then the next till every Dhampir and every Moroi are like us." He waved his free hand around him like some grand gesture. "If I cant get my soul back, then no body can have theirs."

Something behind him caught my attention. On the ground struggling with against the foot of a large Strigoi against her chest was my mother. I strained my neck to try to catch a better glimpse of her.

His hand was too tight. I struggled. I brought my hands up to his one. Scratching at the super hard flesh. He didn't like it one bit and brought a blade to my throat with his free hand.

No. He cant. He wants to destroy the world. This is my fault. This is my fault. My fault.

A bolt of lightening dangerously lights up the entire night sky.

"DIMITRI!! GET YOU HANDS OFF OUR DAUGHTER!!"

Someone kicked her and she yelped.

"Don't do that." I choked out.

He grazed the blade of the knife over my collarbone. Just like he had done with my mother in one of my dreams. I tensed. Knowing what he was likely to do.

NO. I cant let you. I wont let you. I grabbed the hand that held the knife, pulling it away from my throat. His eyes grew wide. More lightening flashed across the sky. It was still raining. It had never stopped. My grip tightened around his hand causing him to drop the blade. He wasn't going to hurt any one. Especially me. I was going to give him his soul back. He would regret the people he had hurt once he had it back.

My body tensed and tingle all at once. I used all the strength I could muster and pushed him back. His hand left my throat. I felt an energy corse through me. My father was suddenly on the ground before me withering in pain.

My hand was held in front of me. It was like an invisible force was firing out of my hand holding him in place on the ground. He scrunched his body and gasped in pain.

My hands trembled. The power that came from them was unimaginable. Too much. Way too much for one person to handle. I tore my hand away shoving it behind my back and I looked around wildly. What had I just done?

Hundreds of red eyes glared at me. That was a mistake.

They swarmed. Like a plague of locusts keen on eating every last single bud. They swarmed towards me. I was the last bud. They were going to kill me. Then everyone else here. Then everyone else everywhere.

They didn't stop. One leaps at me knocking me to the ground with so much force that my breath was literally stolen from my lips. I feel his teeth sink into my forearm. Then another bite on my shoulder. And another on the top of my thigh. And another on my knee.

They're biting me. They're biting me everywhere. Pain courses through my veins like adrenalin. Pumping from my finger tips all the way to my toes and everywhere in between.

Then nothing…

A pretty, blank, whiteness surrounds me.

My body is numb.

My vision gone.

My mind shut off.

I felt at peace.

This is nice.

I think I'm dead.

This must be heaven.

I'm in heaven.

Voices whisper around me.

I cant see anyone.

_You have to come back to me._

The energy I felt before serges through me again.

_You have to come back now!_

I don't want to go back.

_Please!_

I cant!

Something explodes from within me. My eyes fly open. I am surrounded by the monsters. The dead ones. They're feeding from me. This isn't right! It explodes again sending an invisible wave outwards from my body. They fly backwards from me.

I scramble to my feet. My body still feels numb.

I'm still surrounded by the red eyed army. Some are getting to their feet the same as me.

No!

I cant let them!

My body serges again and I feel a flaming tingle escape my finger tips. It swarms around the nearest Strigoi turning him to ash almost instantly. But it doesn't stop. The flaming snake coils around the next nearest one and then the next nearest one. And the next and then next.

Some of the Strigoi must realise what's happening and scramble to get away from the flame.

It wont work.

They cant escape.

I cant stop this.

This is too much for me to control.

Too much for anyone to control.

I drop back to my knees as the flame sucks my energy, my magic, my being from me.

By the time the last one bursts into ash I can barely keep my hand up and my mind is slipping into unconsciousness.

The entire red army is decimated.

Only two others remain outside the wards.

My mother.

And my father.

She is hurt.

He is still withering in pain on the ground.

I can make her happy.

I watch her stagger to her feet.

"I have no claim to it," I whisper, "It was never mine to begin with." I paused, looking at my mothers pathetic, tear streaked face trying not to cry myself. I knew what I had to do.

I sucked in a deep breath and reached for the blade.

I watch her close the distance between herself and me. "What do you mean?" she whispers when she is close enough for me to hear.

"I know you'd rather have the old him back instead of being burdened with me for the rest of your life."

She reaches her hands out to try to take mine. I step back from her and her face scrunches as if in pain.

"I don't know what you mean, Dominica." She was shaking.

"I mean what can you do with me? Kick my butt to get me to train more. Steal my blankets to get me to get outta bed in the morning. I can give him back to you."

She narrows her eyes at me. Then I think it clicks together in her mind.

"Least with dad back and me gone you guys can pick things back up where you left them all those years ago."

Aww, Mum don't look at me like that. I know I was just a huge pain in your arse. You said so yourself so many times.

"Demi, you don't get it." She says taking another step towards me.

I pull the blade across the skin of my wrist, teasing the flesh there.

"Stop, Demi! Your father was dead along time ago. Before you were born, before you were even conceived properly. That thing," she pointed to the struggling Strigoi, "is not him. It may look like him but its just his shell. Not his mind."

I stopped to consider her words.

"I've had sixteen years with you. Compared to the few brief moments of stolen time with your father." Her tears mingled into the bloody mess that was her face. Why was she saying these things?

"It's not mine." I blurt out.

"What?" she says confused.

"My soul. Its not mine, its his. I have to give it back. So you can be happy."

She pauses and her eyes glaze over into a hard stare, "There is no way that I'd let you give up your soul just so that he could have his back. I couldn't do it."

I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Let alone having Dimitri give me that stupid one eye brow thing, which is where you get it from, for the rest of my life for having his only daughter give up her own soul for him. I couldn't do it."

Why was she saying this? I knew the truth. I figured it out.

"Aww, mum I know how you've been looking for him all these years. Ever since I was old enough to be left on my own. You've gone to all this trouble to find him in the hope that you could get your lover back. You gave up being a Guardian, your family and friends. Only to be held back by me."

She looked sad.

"You still don't get it, Demi. I haven't been looking for him for all this time in the hopes of getting him back, all this time I've been looking for him to fulfil his wishes. To kill him. We had talked about it in the months before I lost him. Not really knowing that one day I had to actually do it. He said to me that he ever became Strigoi, that he'd want someone to kill him. That it would be the right thing to do."

What? She was looking for him so that she could kill him.

"But…but you love him." I stammered.

"Yes, but I love you more." She stepped forward and put her hands on the sides of my face. "I always will." I felt a warmth tingle through me as she said that. I believed her. She was telling me the truth. Whole Heartedly.

I could hear other approaching. They had left the wards.

She held me there like that until I was aware of another presence by my side. I felt the knife been taken from my hand. I touched the side of her face and the angry red marks that marred her pretty face faded away.

I blinked away from my stupor. "Mikhail?" I whispered.

"It's okey, honey. I'm right here." His voice said smoothly.

A coldness washed over my body like I had never felt before. It was like I had been plunged into a frozen lake. All my energy drained completely and I swayed slightly.

"I don't feel good."

**~THE END~**

* * *

**A/N: Anyone who can guess the song that I butchered for this, "THE FINAL CHAPTER" of Made by Magic gets a small preview of the Epilogue which wont be posted till at least this time next week. **

**Bet you all saw that coming....**

**By the way, If you have any questions, comments, didnt understand something, thought i missed out something someone or completely stuffed something up. Let me know. I love all the praise but it just gives me a big head and I cant see the mistakes and plot irregularities without your help. (If i could, there wouldnt be any, now would there??) **

**Thank you so much for reading and for those of you who reviewed, May pink and white frosted Honey Jumbles fall from the sky and cover your keyboard!!! **

**~Miss Mel~**

**P.S. Stay tuned for the sequel - a couple of weeks away!**


	22. Epilogue

**AN: I do not own VA or Twilight or any other book/TVshows/movies that I may or may not have referenced in this piece**

**Epilogue.**

Stupid itchy sheets.

I kicked out, tossing the annoyance off my bare legs.

"Dominica?"

I moaned. "Five….more…. Minutes…mum….." I groaned. Turning to bury my face into the pillow.

"Dominica?" a voice said softly.

"Take them, I don't want them, they itch." I grumbled kicking the sheets one last time.

"Dominica?"

"What?" said turning over. "Ouch." Something tugged on my hand.

I sat up quickly, my eyes snapping open to take in the scene around me.

"Mikhail?" I said quietly.

"I'm here." He said standing up from the chair beside me.

I frowned, touching my head.

"What's wrong? Does your head hurt?" He sounded concerned.

I smiled widely. "No, It doesn't. It feels clear, light."

Unburdened.

I looked up at him.

Morning light shone all around him through the open window. He looked like an angel. Sunlight bouncing off his golden hair.

"You feelin' alright?" he asked me, matching my silly grin.

"The suns out." I pointed to the window.

"I know." He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I tried to step down to the floor. But tubes restrained me. I wrinkled my nose and started to unwind the bandages that bound them to me.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." His voice said smoothly.

I scowled, ignoring him and continuing to unwind the bindings.

"I don't want to have someone have to restrain you, Again." he said mockingly.

"I want to see it." I said continuing.

"See what?" he asked my questioningly.

"The sun. I haven't seen the sun in such a long time. I forget what it feels like on my skin. The warmth."

I come to the end of the wrapping and bunched it up and threw it up against the wall. I pressed the clear square that covered the needle in the top of my hand.

But before I had a chance to pull it off, my wrist were encircled with his huge man hands.

"Here," he said tugging gently on the plastic square. "I don't want you to hurt yourself."

He peeled it back tossing it on the bed beside me. He then, as smoothly as he could, pulled the needle out of my hand.

He wrapped his arm around my waist and led me to the large window.

"It's so pretty." Gah…. I think I was gushing. What's wrong with me? Did I hit my head?

I blushed when he looked at me strangely.

"You alright, honey?" He asked me. His hands tightening around me.

Whoa! Freak out. Why did Mikhail have his hands around my waist?

He was more then just holding onto me so I wouldn't fall.

He was coping a feel!!!

* * *

**A/N: Yes, yes. Left nice and open wide for the sequal... it will be at least a month before the sequal is up and posting. I refuse to start posting anything unless i have a clear outline of whats going to happen. Plot much? Something to do with Christabel and Dominica becoming friends, maybe or Rose and Adrian doing something or Dominica kicking Adrian's butt for having a big mouth or maybe even a cheap shot at the queen, cause i dont like her.... So many possibilities.... Gah! **

**But first before i start the sequal i am currently working on another story. Called Imprisioned by insanity... just a plain old vamp fanfic.... if you like angsty, crazy Demi you should meet her friend Andrea Cromwell..... I'll start posting Andi's story in a few weeks.**

**Anywho thanks for reading.....**

**~Miss Mel~**


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